I’m originally from New York but have lived in Portugal for the last 31 years. I write my novels in English and my children’s books in Portuguese. When I discovered the Lisbon Massacre of 1506, in which 2,000 forcibly converted Jews were murdered and burnt in the city’s main square, I asked my Portuguese friends what they could tell me about it. They all replied, “What Massacre?” I found out then that this crime against humanity wasn’t taught in Portuguese schools. It had been nearly completely forgotten. That made me furious, so I decided to write a novel about it (The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon). When I’m not working on a book, I like to garden and travel.
The year is 1506, and the streets of Lisbon are seething with fear and suspicion when a Jewish mystic named Abraham Zarco is found dead, a naked girl at his side. Abraham was a renowned kabbalist, a respected authority on the arcane mysteries of the Jewish tradition at a time when the Jews of Portugal have been forced to convert to Christianity. His beloved nephew Berekiah, a talented young manuscript illuminator, begins to investigate the murder. And he soon discovers in the kabbalah clues that lead him into the labyrinth of secrets in which the converted Jews of Portugal have sought to hide their true beliefs from their persecutors.
A challenging mystery and a powerful indictment of the evils of intolerance, The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon is an extraordinary and spellbinding historical thriller.
Are you prepared to read a novel that might challenge your perspective on sexual practices generally considered perverse and perilous? The narrator of this touching fictional autobiography is Terry Andrews, a compassionate, witty, and wildly promiscuous children’s book author and resident of pre-AIDS Greenwich Village. Unfortunately for him, he discovers that he is most drawn to what he cannot have – a family and kids. His attraction to down-and-out misfits and sadomasochism seems to rule that out until he falls in love with a married father of six. When that relationship comes undone, however, Terry slides into suicidal depression. Even so, his narration remains charged with magical exuberance and black humor. Is it a scandalous work? Definitely! Dangerous? Probably. Worth reading? You decide…
The most memorable characters in novels are often evil and mean-spirited. That’s definitely the case in this troubling and moving work, in which a bitter miser named Ebenezer Scrooge adores mistreating everyone around him. His philosophy? Kindness and compassion undermine the economic workings of society and encourage the poor to be lazy. Does that sound familiar? It should, because it’s neo-liberal ideology in a nutshell! Scrooge is shunned by his employees and has no friends. One chilly night, three specters pay him a visit: the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. Will they terrify him into changing his ways? Dickens’ classic raises a psychologically astute question that I explore in my own book andseveral of my novels: can only the most terrible traumas truly change us?
Tom Baker reads Charles Dickens' timeless seasonal story.
Charles Dickens' story of solitary miser Ebenezer Scrooge, who is taught the true meaning of Christmas by the three ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, has become one of the timeless classics of English literature. First published in 1843, it introduces us not only to Scrooge himself, but also to the memorable characters of underpaid desk clerk Bob Cratchit and his poor family, the poorest amongst whom is the ailing and crippled Tiny Tim.
In this captivating recording, Tom Baker delivers a tour-de-force performance as he narrates the story. The listener…
Did you ever defy unfair rules imposed on you by a boss, teacher, or parent and have to pay dearly for your rebelliousness? If so, you’re sure to identify with the main character of Kesey’s first novel, petty criminal Randle McMurphy, who’s serving a prison term for assault. In order to win a transfer to a psychiatric hospital and receive more lenient treatment, he fakes insanity. Once there, however, his defiant antics, zest for life, and sexual allure put him in conflict with the puritanical head of his ward, Nurse Ratched, who comes to see him as a disruptive misfit and dangerous rival. McMurphy soon earns her fury by encouraging his fellow patients to live more freely and adventurously. Though readers know that he is unlikely to win this battle of wills with the cruel nurse, the length to which she goes to ensure victory still comes as a terrible shock.
Boisterous, ribald, and ultimately shattering, Ken Kesey's 1962 novel has left an indelible mark on the literature of our time. Now in a new deluxe edition with a foreword by Chuck Palahniuk and cover by Joe Sacco, here is the unforgettable story of a mental ward and its inhabitants, especially the tyrannical Big Nurse Ratched and Randle Patrick McMurphy, the brawling, fun-loving new inmate who resolves to oppose her. We see the struggle through the eyes of Chief Bromden, the seemingly mute half-Indian patient who witnesses and understands McMurphy's heroic attempt to do battle with the powers that keep them…
Published way back in 1554, this revolutionary novel is irreverent, amusing, and gloriously critical of the hypocrisy of 16th century Spanish society and, by extension, our own times. The main character is a destitute scoundrel named Lazarillo who seeks to better his fortunes while in the service of a brutal priest and host of other unseemly characters. By creating an anti-hero who is a witty misfit and outcast, and by portraying Spanish society as morally bankrupt, the author earned the wrath of the Spanish monarchy – which banned the novel – and the Catholic Church, which placed it on its Index of forbidden literature. My novelis also on the Church’s list of forbidden books, so I feel a special kinship with the unnamed author of this groundbreaking work.
Edición de Florencio Sevilla Arroyo, catedrático de Filología Española en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
El Lazarillo de Tormes inauguró el género de la novela picaresca. Relata las desventuras que un joven de origen humilde sufre al servicio de sus amos, entre los que se cuentan un ciego, un clérigo y un hidalgo pobre. Los avatares por los que pasa Lázaro son un magnífico pretexto para plasmar una ácida crítica a la sociedad de la época. Asimismo, el tratamiento de la anécdota, el lenguaje sobrio y eficaz, y una nueva concepción en el uso de…
I’m passionate about reading (and writing!) about people who are persecuted for their beliefs and individual qualities, so this novel fits my tastes perfectly. In it, survivors of a nuclear holocaust live in a rural community that enforces Old Testament rules and regulations, eliminating anyone with a physical defect or mutation. Their isolated territory is surrounded by the Fringes, a terrifying wasteland inhabited by radiation-transformed creatures. David, the young narrator, soon reveals a damning secret: he is in telepathic contact with other youngsters who share his special abilities. He has also detected the existence of adult mind-readers in distant New Zealand. When his secret is discovered, he and his friends are hunted down as dangerous anomalies. While fleeing for their lives to the Fringes, they call out telepathically for help. Will their rescuers arrive in time?
In the community of Waknut it is believed mutants are the products of the Devil and must be stamped out. When David befriends a girl with a slight abnormality, he begins to understand the nature of fear and oppression. When he develops his own deviation, he must learn to conceal his secret.
My book recommendations reflect an abiding passion for Japanese literature, which has unquestionably influenced my own writing. My latest literary interest involves Japanese poetry—I’ve recently started a project that combines haiku and prose narration to describe my experiences as a part-time resident in a 1300-year-old Japanese hot spring town that Bashō helped make famous in The Narrow Road to the Deep North. But as a writer, my main focus remains novels. In late 2023 the second in a planned series of novels set in Ishikawa prefecture will be published. I currently live in Kanazawa, but have also been lucky to call Sapporo, Akita, Tokyo, and Fukui home at different times.
Emmitt’s plans collapse when his wife, Mirai, suddenly backs out of purchasing their dream home. Disappointed, he’s surprised to discover her subtle pursuit of a life and career in Tokyo.
In his search for a meaningful life in Japan, and after quitting his job, he finds himself helping his mother-in-law translate Kanazawa’s most famous author, Izumi Kyoka, into English. He becomes drawn into the mysterious death of a friend of Mirai’s parents, leading him and his father-in-law to climb the mountain where the man died. There, he learns the somber truth and discovers what the future holds for him and his wife.
Packed with subtle literary allusion and closely observed nuance, Kanazawa reflects the mood of Japanese fiction in a fresh, modern incarnation.
In Kanazawa, the first literary novel in English to be set in this storied Japanese city, Emmitt's future plans collapse when his wife, Mirai, suddenly backs out of negotiations to purchase their dream home. Disappointed, he's surprised to discover Mirai's subtle pursuit of a life and career in Tokyo, a city he dislikes.
Harmony is further disrupted when Emmitt's search for a more meaningful life in Japan leads him to quit an unsatisfying job at a local university. In the fallout, he finds himself helping his mother-in-law translate Kanazawa's most famous author, Izumi Kyoka, into English.
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