From free-range cowboy to down-home daddy! When pilot Lisa Phillips was named co-guardian of her niece she did everything by the book: clipped her wings, took cooking classes and settled down to be a stand-in mum. But she hadn’t planned on playing house with her “frenemy” – rodeo rider and good-time cowboy Brett Sullivan.
In the late 19th century, orphaned Jim Burden is sent to the wilderness in Nebraska to live with his grandparents. He arrives at the same time as the Shimerda family, including the eldest daughter Ántonia, who becomes his closest neighbors. Life in the American West is tough, especially for the impoverished Shimerda family, and pioneers must struggle for survival. A friendship blossoms between Jim and Ántonia as they explore nature and have adventures together, a friendship that will last a lifetime. My Ántonia became an immediate success when first published and is today considered Willa Cather's first masterpiece. It is praised for its depiction of the American West and its ability to highlight the aspirations of ordinary, poor people in a time when it was customary to write about the elite. WILLA CATHER [1873-1947] was an American author. After studying at the University of Nebraska, she worked as a teacher and journalist. Cather's novels often focus on settlers in the USA with a particular emphasis on female pioneers. In 1923, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the novel One of Ours, and in 1943, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time From the Modern Library’s new set of beautifully repackaged hardcover classics by Truman Capote—also available are Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Other Voices, Other Rooms (in one volume), Portraits and Observations, and The Complete Stories Truman Capote’s masterpiece, In Cold Blood, created a sensation when it was first published, serially, in The New Yorker in 1965. The intensively researched, atmospheric narrative of the lives of the Clutter family of Holcomb, Kansas, and of the two men, Richard Eugene Hickock and Perry Edward Smith, who brutally killed them on the night of November 15, 1959, is the seminal work of the “new journalism.” Perry Smith is one of the great dark characters of American literature, full of contradictory emotions. “I thought he was a very nice gentleman,” he says of Herb Clutter. “Soft-spoken. I thought so right up to the moment I cut his throat.” Told in chapters that alternate between the Clutter household and the approach of Smith and Hickock in their black Chevrolet, then between the investigation of the case and the killers’ flight, Capote’s account is so detailed that the reader comes to feel almost like a participant in the events.
On a cold winter’s night in 1778, two patriot soldiers recall their first sensual encounter and ponder their future together with the women they love. Winter’s icy weather is not the only chill to descend upon New York’s Fort Revolution in January of 1778. Discontent hangs heavy in the air between Lieutenant Patrick Hamilton and Captain Samuel Taylor during an evening’s respite from America’s war for independence. Reminiscing brings a realization of their emotional and physical connection to each other. Will memories be enough to rouse reconciliation? Winter Interlude: An American Revolutionary Novelette (American Revolutionary Tales Book 2) is a prequel and interquel companion story to The General’s Wife: An American Revolutionary Tale, delving into the relationship between Captain Samuel Taylor and Lieutenant Patrick Hamilton. Much of the action of Winter Interlude takes place in the gap between Chapter Twenty-Three and Chapter Twenty-Four of The General’s Wife. American Revolutionary Tales Book 1: The General’s Wife: An American Revolutionary Tale An English Lady and a handsome American Patriot in a battle for her heart – will she submit to the enemy? Book 2: Winter Interlude: An American Revolutionary Novelette On a cold winter’s night in 1778, two patriot soldiers recall their first sensual encounter and ponder their future together with the women they love. Coming soon! Book 3: The Viscount and the Veteran: An American Federalist Tale
Outsider musicians can be the product of damaged DNA, alien abduction, drug fry, demonic possession, or simply sheer obliviousness. This book profiles dozens of outsider musicians, both prominent and obscure—figures such as The Shaggs, Syd Barrett, Tiny Tim, Jandek, Captain Beefheart, Daniel Johnston, Harry Partch, and The Legendary Stardust Cowboy—and presents their strange life stories along with photographs, interviews, cartoons, and discographies. About the only things these self-taught artists have in common are an utter lack of conventional tunefulness and an overabundance of earnestness and passion. But, believe it or not, they're worth listening to, often outmatching all contenders for inventiveness and originality. A CD featuring songs by artists profiled in the book is also available.
