Voici donc des histoires croisées, celle de Jérémie, en quête de Raphus cucullatus, alias l’oiseau de nausée, le dodo mauricien jadis exterminé par les humains, et celle de Dominique, alias Dodo, l’admirable hobo, né pour faire rire. Leur lieu commun est Alma, l’ancien domaine des Felsen sur l’île Maurice, que les temps modernes ont changée en Maya, la terre des illusions : « Dans le jardin de la Maison Blanche le soleil d’hiver passe sur mon visage, bientôt le soleil va s’éteindre, chaque soir le ciel devient jaune d’or. Je suis dans mon île, ce n’est pas l’île des méchants, les Armando, Robinet de Bosses, Escalier, ce n’est pas l’île de Missié Kestrel ou Missié Zan, Missié Hanson, Monique ou Véronique, c’est Alma, mon Alma, Alma des champs et des ruisseaux, des mares et des bois noirs, Alma dans mon cœur, Alma dans mon ventre. Tout le monde peut mourir, pikni, mais pas toi, Artémisia, pas toi. Je reste immobile dans le soleil d’or, les yeux levés vers l’intérieur de ma tête puisque je ne peux pas dormir, un jour mon âme va partir par un trou dans ma tête, pour aller au ciel où sont les étoiles. »

Auf dem Campus von William and Mary gibt es niemanden, der Victoria Savedge nicht kennt. Denn Vic, eine große, schwarzhaarige Schönheit, ist nun wirklich nicht zu übersehen, zumal sie immer in Begleitung von Charly Harrison anzutreffen ist, dem Footballstar des College und Sohn einer der prominenten Familien Virginias. Und ihre Zukunft scheint gezeichnet — zumindest von ihrer Mutter R.J. und ihrer Tante Bunny. Der Plan ist einfach: Vic wird Charly heiraten und sich in der Rolle einer hochgeachteten Politikergattin einrichten. Doch dann kommt der Tag, an dem sie Chris trifft. Chris, die von Vermont an dieses College in Virginia gewechselt ist, ist magisch angezogen von Vics Schönheit und Ausstrahlung — und so wird aus der CollegeFreundschaft bald mehr, denn Vic und Chris können der gegenseitigen Anziehungskraft nicht widerstehen…

 Наши дни. Семьдесят километров от Москвы, Сергиев Посад, Троице-Сергиева Лавра, Московская духовная семинария – древнейшее учебное заведение России. Закрытый вуз, готовящий будущих священников Церкви. Замкнутый мир богословия, жесткой дисциплины и послушаний. Семинарская молодежь, стремящаяся вытащить православие из его музейного прошлого, пытается преодолеть в себе навязываемый администрацией типаж смиренного пастыря и бросает вызов проректору по воспитательной работе игумену Траяну Введенскому. Гений своего дела и живая легенда, отец Траян принимается за любимую работу по отчислению недовольных

Kristi Bentz regresa a la Universidad de All Saints en Baton Rouge, Louisiana, para licenciarse en inglés. Su objetivo es escribir auténticas novelas negras, habiendo sido víctima en dos ocasiones y habiendo quedado en coma en una de ellas. Después de despertar y recobrarse físicamente, Kristi tenía visiones en las que veía a gente como a su padre, pasando del color al blanco y negro, cosa que interpreta como que dicha persona va a morir pronto. En la Universidad, Kristi se entera de que han desaparecido cuatro estudiantes en los últimos dos años. La policía piensa que se han escapado, pero Kristi cree que están muertos. Su antigua compañera de cuarto le menciona un culto vampírico cuyos miembros llevan un vial de sangre colgado del cuello. Los cuatro desaparecidos asistían a las mismas clases e incluso tenían en común que sus padres les habían repudiado. Kristi, que de tal palo tal astilla, investiga con la ayuda de su profesor y ex amante Jay McKnight, sin percatarse de que un inteligente asesino ha hecho de ella su objetivo

Lush prose and penetrating psychological insight infuse Conrad’s first novel with the qualities that have made him one of the most popular and most studied writers in English literature. The novel chronicles the tragic decline of a Dutch merchant isolated in 19th-century Borneo, the machinations of his bitter Malayan wife, and the loss of his much loved daughter. Conrad establishes the themes of betrayal, isolation, and colonialism that he would explore throughout the rest of his life and work

Карло Лукарелли в сегодняшней Италии – автор триллеров номер один! Блестящий стилист, ученик знаменитого Алессандро Баррико, Лукарелли возвел расследование кровавых преступлений в область искусства и, как Акунин в России, сделал для итальянцев чтение детективов модным занятием. Среди множества бестселлеров Лукарелли особой популярностью пользуются романы о полицейском инспекторе Грации Негро – красивой и отважной женщине, которая расследует ужасающие своей жестокостью преступления серийных убийц-маньяков. Как героиня Джоди Фостер из бессмертного «Молчания ягнят», она вступает в яростный интеллектуальный поединок с преступником. Ежечасно рискуя жизнью, балансируя на грани дозволенного, Грация Негро дразнит убийцу и выманивает его на свет, как хищного зверя. Провокационно-двусмысленные отношения между ними создают напряжение такого накала, что финала-взрыва ждешь, как глотка долгожданного воздуха… Предупреждаем: Карло Лукарелли – мастер совершенно неожиданного финала!

Politically incorrect, provocative, and steeped in wit and irony, a fast-paced tragicomedy about the perfectly ordinary madness in today's Middle East. A thirtysomething Tel Aviv businessman, Eitan "Croc" Einoch's life is turned upside down when he narrowly escapes a suicide bombing on the minibus he rides to work. When he lives through a second attack, and then a third, he becomes, reluctantly, a national media celebrity. Naturally, the Palestinian terrorists responsible for the attacks are less than happy. This embarrassing symbol of their failure-this "CrocAttack"-must be neutralized. Meanwhile, Fahmi Sabih lies in a coma, quarrelling with his conscience. The young Palestinian suicide bomber has learned everything he knows about bombs, targets, and revenge from his brother. So why has Einoch survived? As Fahmi's story unfolds, it becomes clear that their paths are destined to cross again-for there is another bombing still to come-and then luck will change drastically for one or both of them. But who, if anyone, has right on his side?

Albert is nineteen, grew up in an orphanage, and never knew his mother. All his life Albert had to be a father to his father: Fred is a child trapped in the body of an old man. He spends his time reading encyclopedias, waves at green cars, and is known as the hero of a tragic bus accident. Albert senses that Fred, who has just been given five months left to live, is the only one who can help him learn more about his background. With time working against them, Albert and Fred set out on an adventurous voyage of discovery that leads them via the underground sewers into the distant past-all the way back to a night in August 1912, and to the story of a forbidden love. Almost Everything Very Fast, Christopher Kloeble's U.S. debut, is a sensitive and dramatic family saga and page-turning road novel all in one

From "a top-notch emerging writer with a crisp and often poetic voice and wily, intelligent humor" (The Boston Globe): a collection of stories that explores the lives of talented, gutsy women throughout history. The fascinating lives of the characters in Almost Famous Women have mostly been forgotten, but their stories are burning to be told. Now Megan Mayhew Bergman, author of Birds of a Lesser Paradise, resurrects these women, lets them live in the reader's imagination, so we can explore their difficult choices. Nearly every story in this dazzling collection is based on a woman who attained some celebrity — she raced speed boats or was a conjoined twin in show business; a reclusive painter of renown; a member of the first all-female, integrated swing band. We see Lord Byron's illegitimate daughter, Allegra; Oscar Wilde's troubled niece, Dolly; West With the Night author Beryl Markham; Edna St. Vincent Millay's sister, Norma. These extraordinary stories travel the world, explore the past (and delve into the future), and portray fiercely independent women defined by their acts of bravery, creative impulses, and sometimes reckless decisions. The world hasn't always been kind to unusual women, but through Megan Mayhew Bergman's alluring depictions they finally receive the attention they deserve. Almost Famous Women is a gorgeous collection from an "accomplished writer of short fiction" (Booklist)

“Of my generation I most admire Daniel Sada, whose writing project seems to me the most daring.” —Roberto Bolaño. This Rabelaisian tale of lust and longing in the drier precincts of postwar Mexico introduces one of Latin America’s most admired writers to the English-speaking world. Demetrio Sordo is an agronomist who passes his days in a dull but remunerative job at a ranch near Oaxaca. It is 1945, World War II has just ended, but those bloody events have had no impact on a country that is only on the cusp of industrializing. One day, more bored than usual, Demetrio visits a bordello in search of a libidinous solution to his malaise. There he begins an all-consuming and, all things considered, perfectly satisfying relationship with a prostitute named Mireya. A letter from his mother interrupts Demetrio’s debauched idyll: she asks him to return home to northern Mexico to accompany her to a wedding in a small town on the edge of the desert. Much to his mother’s delight, he meets the beautiful and virginal Renata and quickly falls in love — a most proper kind of love. Back in Oaxaca, Demetrio is torn, the poor cad. Naturally he tries to maintain both relationships, continuing to frolic with Mireya and beginning a chaste correspondence with Renata. But Mireya has problems of her own — boredom is not among them — and concocts a story that she hopes will help her escape from the bordello and compel Demetrio to marry her. Almost Never is a brilliant send-up of Latin American machismo that also evokes a Mexico on the verge of dramatic change

Philosophical inquiry, examinations of language, and involuted domestic disputes are the focus of Lydia Davis’s inventive collection of short fiction, Almost No Memory. In each of these stories, Davis reveals an empathic, sometimes shattering understanding of human relationships

Maddy, Christine, and Amy find that an old college roommate has written about them in her new self-help book-and they're furious that she's used them as examples of how women screw up their lives. And the worst part is, it's sort of true. Together they make a pact: they'll face down their fears-and maybe show Miss Perfect a thing or two! Maddy rejected her high school sweetheart's marriage proposal for art school years ago. Now her friends challenge her to rediscover her lost passion for arts. In doing so, she crosses paths with her old flame, Joe, at an art camp. Perhaps it's about time that Maddy reignites another old passion

Back in high school, Liz Sutton was the girl from the wrong side of the tracks. Then she'd stolen the heart of the most popular boy in town, and their secret romance helped her through the worst of times. Until Ethan Hendrix betrayed her and everything they'd ever meant to each other. Devastated and pregnant, Liz left Fool's Gold, California – forever, she thought. Now Liz must return to town and face the man who doesn't know of their son's existence. And this time she won't have the option of making a quick getaway. Ethan and Liz can't deny their passionate attraction, even after all these years. But will their desire be enough to spark a second chance at love?

Рассказ вошёл в сборники: The Machineries of Joy (Механизмы радости) Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales (Сборник ста лучших рассказов)