In the middle of his life, Jack Grout found himself abducted by aliens. There were other things. His wife left him. His son came one night to the Skylark Lounge - the pool hall Jack bought after throwing in his job in newspaper advertising - and punched him. And there was the mistreatment for melanoma. But what Jack really needed to know was why the aliens, who had first taken him when he was nine years old and shown him his life in unbearably vivid close-up, had returned.
The story of a man who lives on the fringe of society, hanging on by a thread. Unable to cope with the tedium of the expected, he is now a misanthrope, sick of it all. Golf, gambling, drinking, drugs, and sex with beautiful women are now his only reasons to get out of bed in the morning. He has problems, but when he finds trouble his life gets interesting. Enjoy his adventure.
As the economic reforms of the mid-1980s begin to take their toll on New Zealand's most vulnerable, Gina Tully, manager of Happy World hotel--a down-and-out residential hotel filled with rascals and eccentrics--must reconcile her social conscience with her need to keep her job. Emerging from this story about the downtrodden and disadvantaged is a celebration of human resilience that reminds us of the importance of intimacy and compassion.
This sleek guide emphasizes the details that busy and discerning travelers need to know: the very best venues and activities, the prime time to be in every spot, and packed with insider tips. Structured around styles (hot&cool, hip, classic) that make up San Francisco's unique character, the guide's easy to use format gives travelers a selection based on the city's array of personalities. With the most accurate information available in any guide, three 72-hour itineraries, insider hot tips and equal billing for both nighttime and daytime activities, Night+Day San Francisco is the quintessential guide to the city.
Detailed and timely information on accommodations, restaurants, and local attractions highlight these updated travel guides, which feature all-new covers, a two-color interior design, symbols to indicate budget options, must-see ratings, multi-day itineraries, Smart Travel Tips, helpful bulleted maps, tips on transportation, guidelines for shopping excursions, and other valuable features. Original.
So You Want to Sing the Blues: A Guide for Performers shines a light on the history and vibrant modern life of blues song. Eli Yamin explores those essential elements that make the blues sound authentic and guides readers of all backgrounds and levels through mastering this art form. He provides glimpses into the musical lives of the women and men who created the blues along with a listening tour of seminal recordings in the genre’s history. The blues presents many unique challenges for singers, who must shout, slide, and serenade around the accompanying music. By offering concrete explanations and exercises of key blues elements, this book guides singers to create authentic self-expressions informed by the style’s rich history and supported by strong technique. Teachers and singers of all levels will find this book a welcome guide to participating in this culturally diverse and uplifting style. The So You Want to Sing series is produced in partnership with the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Like all books in the series, So You Want to Sing the Blues features online supplemental material on the NATS website. Please visit www.nats.org to access style-specific exercises, audio and video files, and additional resources.
A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • USA TODAY BOOK CLUB PICK • ONE OF AUDIBLE'S BEST BIOS AND MEMOIRS OF 2023 • “A raw, intimate look at [Hendrickson's] life with a stutter. It’s a profoundly moving book that will reshape the way you think about people living with this condition.”—Esquire • A candid memoir about a lifelong struggle to speak. “Life On Delay brims with empathy and honesty . . . It moved me in ways that I haven’t experienced before. It’s fantastic.”—Clint Smith, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller How the Word Is Passed “I can’t remember the last time I read a book that made me want to both cry and cheer so much, often at the same time.”—Robert Kolker, best-selling author of Hidden Valley Road In the fall of 2019, John Hendrickson wrote a groundbreaking story for The Atlantic about Joe Biden’s decades-long journey with stuttering, as well as his own. The article went viral, reaching readers around the world and altering the course of Hendrickson’s life. Overnight, he was forced to publicly confront an element of himself that still caused him great pain. He soon learned he wasn’t alone with his feelings: strangers who stutter began sending him their own personal stories, something that continues to this day. Now, in this reported memoir, Hendrickson takes us deep inside the mind and heart of a stutterer as he sets out to answer lingering questions about himself and his condition that he was often too afraid to ask. In Life on Delay, Hendrickson writes candidly about bullying, substance abuse, depression, isolation, and other issues stutterers like him face daily. He explores the intricate family dynamics surrounding his own stutter and revisits key people from his past in unguarded interviews. Readers get an over-the-shoulder view of his childhood; his career as a journalist, which once seemed impossible; and his search for a romantic partner. Along the way, Hendrickson guides us through the evolution of speech therapy, the controversial quest for a “magic pill” to end stuttering, and the burgeoning self-help movement within the stuttering community. Beyond his own experiences, he shares portraits of fellow stutterers who have changed his life, and he writes about a pioneering doctor who is upending the field of speech therapy. Life on Delay is an indelible account of perseverance, a soulful narrative about not giving up, and a glimpse into the process of making peace with our past and present selves.
A classic crime drama/thriller/love story. The tale of a young night club bouncer who navigates his way through nightly interactions with waring New York mob factions, between Harlem and Brooklyn, in and around the hot NYC night club scene. He manages to handle this tense and violent world by leveraging his leadership skills and coordinating with seasoned NYPD Detectives and mobsters alike to survive his weekly struggles. His only peace comes on his evenings off when he frequents his favorite jazz clubs, in addition to the time spent with the ladies he dabbles in love and lust with.
Twenty years after the appearance of his first published short story, One Hit Wonder, Shamus Award-winner J.L. Abramo has assembled a collection of his previously published short crime fiction along with never before published stories and writings about writing in this anthology. From the streets of Brooklyn and Denver; from Los Angeles to San Francisco; from private eyes and police detectives to con men and mob bosses; from mystery to thriller to noir; Abramo’s short stories display a vivid sense of location and a masterful understanding of the triumphs and tragedies of characters on both sides of the law. Critical Acclaim for J.L. Abramo “Jake Diamond is back and it feels like the return of an old friend. One of my all-time favorite PI series.” —Steve Hamilton, Edgar Award-winning author of The Lock Artist “Think it is impossible to find a new take on the wise-cracking San Francisco PI? Meet Jake Diamond and think again.” —S.J. Rozan, Edgar Award-winning author of Absent Friends “If grit, hard guys, and the rhythm of the mean streets is your thing, J.L. Abramo is your man.” —Reed Farrel Coleman, Shamus Award-winning author of Where It Hurts “J.L. Abramo writes noir the way God and Dashiell Hammett intended— tough, terse and sharp.” —Michael Koryta, award-winning author of Those Who Wish Me Dead
