Being in a coma has helped to open Charlotte Grey’s eyes for the very first time . . . As she hovers somewhere between life and death, Charlotte finally realizes what a complete mess she’s made of her time on Earth—including the five years she’s wasted on worthless, faithless James Kane. The afterlife should be paradise compared to that—except “heaven” seems to be nothing more than a big retirement home in the sky, with lots of bingo and bridge and absolutely no sign of Elvis, Princess Di, Kurt Cobain, or anyone else worth spending eternity with. Charlotte would rather return to Earth, thank you very much. But the only way she can get there is as a bona fide guardian angel . . . and the lost soul she’s assigned to is none other than the James Kane, who tore her heart out and stomped on it. Still, Charlotte’s determined to use her second chance to really start living, Kane or not, and have some fun . . . for once in her afterlife.
Jens Naumann, a typical energetic young man of 17 had just moved out of his parent’s home in Northern British Columbia, moving into a railway camp as an employee with the British Columbia Railway. All goes well as Jens enjoys his new found freedom, treasuring his driver’s license and its associated freedom of travel. Then on a wintry day in 1981, fate rears its ugly head and strikes him blind in his left eye. Jens quickly rearranges his life to accommodate his new found fear - that of losing his remaining eye now that the true vulnerability of his eyesight is revealed. As his life continues onwards despite the initial readjustment, he finds ultimate happiness in his new marriage to his young wife Lorri, and just when life stands at its threshold of paradise exploring fatherhood along with the beauty of travel and thrill, his worst nightmare becomes reality not once, but twice in the most bizarre series of unforeseen incidents of bad luck; as Jens is totally blinded with no foreseeable chance of seeing again according to the best medical experts. Jens tries his best to adjust to this unwanted situation, exploring conventional methods of rehabilitation to live with blindness, as well as using imaginative, totally unheard - of activities in order to pass his time in a hope of someday being able to see again despite all the odds stacked against him. Close to the turn of the century, Jens unexpectedly receives news of an American Medical Device Engineer, Dr. William H. Dobelle, inviting blind adults as patients for his newly developed artificial vision system designed to provide limited vision via visual cortex stimulation. Dr. Dobelle claims that his system has a good chance in functioning based on previous experimenting with volunteers, at the same time classifying the surgical procedure as minor. The system and its related components is complicated; consisting of not only the implants, but a series of “electrical sockets” protruding from the patients head to which an array of computer boxes and stimulator hardware is connected and worn by the patient. Jens is determined to be one of the patients, regardless of the remoteness of the chance of being one out of literally millions of blind people in the World possibly lining up to have this procedure in hopes of ending their blindness for once and for all. To his absolute surprise, Jens is accepted as the first patient for this procedure and slowly builds a relationship with Dr. Dobelle as Jens overcomes obvious barriers of raising enough money for the very expensive procedure, as well as fighting the challenges of relentless forces working against him for his involvement in the Dobelle vision project. Armed with preconceived ideas of how a research institute should be run, Jens travels overseas for the various stages of the procedure, only to find the most astonishing facts of what goes on in the heart of a renowned medical research institute. Not only is Jens looking at the workings of the Dobelle Institute from the view of a patient, but in short time Jens is hired by the firm as Patient Representative, providing further exploration yet on the inner most details concerning a research company and its treatment of the 15 additional implanted patients. Throughout the book, Jens describes the devastation, exhilaration, disappointment, elation, and confusion that attempts at sight recovery, medical intervention, media propaganda, and ethical boundaries conjure in the most illustrative intensity. The manner in which the book ends is most indescribable; one could view it as the final straw, the beginning of a new era, the curse of the unforgiven, the sadness of a crushing reality, the beginning of a good job left unfinished; or that of the birth of a new expert compelled to unleash the new found knowledge for the whole World to thrive. Just as many questions are answered, many more yet are opened and left so far undiscovered. Search for Paradise is ce
Life for Grace Place is all about sucking on “meat jerkys” and Lenny Bean, her handsome lover. However, Grace’s mother has loftier plans for her daughter. She insists that Grace save her money and move to New York City so she can find fame and fortune as an actress. Grace works as a cleaning lady for wealthy Betty Ann Houseman so she can pool her pennies for the trip north. Betty Ann has a passion for men more pronounced than her overbite, and it isn’t long before she’s parting the sheets for Lenny Bean. But just before Grace leaves Hixson,Tennessee for New York City, she uncovers an insidious plot: the Bean family is trying to steal Betty Ann’s estate. Without being able to help Betty Ann, Grace flees to New York, where she faces her darkest hours. In a world of surprises, Grace truly discovers paradise. poetic,mystery,southern fiction,womens fiction,humorous,southern writers,southern books,1960s books,lesbian character,1960s stories,civil rights themes,love stories
The decadent chic of Bahamian high life collides with bittersweet romance in this poignant and powerful novel that explores the redemptive power of love. Chris Angostura, the scion of a prominent family, frolics away his days and nights drinking and clubhopping in the Bahamas, where sex and drugs are his for the taking. It is not until he meets Robin, a beautiful and exciting artist, that he begins to face his past in order to discover the true beauty behind the seductive façade of paradise.
Is it a novel? A neurolinguistic operating system? A textbook? Or all of the above? For the first time ever, discover the most scientifically accurate and leading edge truths about the plant in Cannabis Paradise. Join Silex Stone as he learns about cannabis and experience the world in the year 2045. The United States has divided into two different societies and Silex is caught in the middle of both worlds as he tries to find the truth about the plant.
Seeking Paradise (A Paradise Series Prequel)~Find your own way to Paradise! “Take a peek inside the mind and bold lifestyle of a swinger group.”Sue B. “One can only dream of paradise like this!!!”Marcia H. The Crew, as they now call themselves, were once no more than a scattered group of strangers, separated both by distance and societal expectations. Before these sexy friends found each other, they were just like the rest of us...living day-to-day and Seeking Paradise. This is the story of how each of the Crew found love, the lifestyle, and the enduring friendships that brought them all to the island of Beora West and changed their lives forever. This is your chance to see what their lives were like before they were Swinging in Paradise. **Includes Epilogue, Deleted Scenes, and even an alternate ending from Swinging In Paradise**
The book covers not only recipes, breakdown and description on ingredients, types and varieties of sausage but also the origins, stages of production, health implications, safety and quality management.
From cover - "In 1989 just as tourism was beginning in Costa Rica, the author moved to the tropics with his wife and two young daughters. This is the saga of their often humourous adventures in their new found paradise."
Allegra Goodman has delighted readers with her critically acclaimed collections Total Immersion and The Family Markowitz, and her celebrated first novel, Kaaterskill Falls, which was a national bestseller and a National Book Award finalist. Abandoned by her folk-dancing partner, Gary, in a Honolulu hotel room, Sharon realizes she could return to Boston—and her estranged family—or listen to that little voice inside herself. The voice that asks: “How come Gary got to pursue his causes, while all I got to pursue was him?” Thus, with an open heart, a soul on fire, and her meager possessions (a guitar, two Indian gauze skirts, a macramé bikini, and her grandfather’s silver watch) Sharon begins her own spiritual quest. Ever the optimist, she is sure at each stage that she has struck it rich “spiritually speaking”—until she comes up empty. Then, in a karmic convergence of events, Sharon starts on the path home to Judaism. Still, even as she embraces her tradition, Sharon’s irrepressible self tugs at her sleeve. Especially when she meets Mikhail, falls truly in love at last, and discovers what even she could not imagine—her destiny.
