I fell into writing quite by accident and discovered that I had the single most important tool for it - a vivid and tireless imagination. I have written eight novels; the ninth is expected before January 2022. My readers like my books – my average review on goodreads.com is 4.6 out of 5.0. I don't know what to make of that, since the tastes of readers vary widely. I do know something about getting a reader to the excitement of turning the next page, and to the sadness of turning the last page. It is high art that lasts forever, though we do not. Even as our tech advances and we advance with it, we will always tell stories.
Milky Way Tango begins the Belt Stories, describing in a space opera a long, hazardous quest, motivated by young romance. As mankind settles an interstellar empire, cruel and malicious fate separates two young lovers, Jimmy and Sarah, across light-years. Neither is easily intimidated; neither accepts living without the other.
Each pursues a long, dangerous, frustrating road to reunion, testing the limits of their will, faith, resource, and endurance. Milky Way Boogie continues the story; Milky Way Gala concludes it.
This is a fascinating, though quite odd, story about an alcoholic writer of novels and poetry. In middle age, the writer becomes famous. Fame propels him through a succession of increasingly bizarre sexual encounters with women. From this beginning, Bukowski proceeds to a surprising, conventional ending, almost a cliché, which stands out against the bizarre scenes preceding it. The writing in Women is incredibly expressive, compact, direct, and efficient. As a result, the story absolutely flies. Bukowski is the most creative literary stylist I have read; Women, his best work.
YOU CAN TAKE THE MAN OUT OF THE GUTTER, BUT YOU CAN'T TAKE THE GUTTER OUT OF THE MAN
Low life writer and alcoholic Henry Chinaski was born to survive. Now, at the age of fifty, he is living the life of a rock star, running three hundred hangovers a year and a sex life that would cripple Casanova. Women is a riotous and uncompromisingly vivid account of life on the edge.
Among novels that combine literary invention with real world punch, none stand taller. In Prince, Twain uses careful control of character perspective to shed cold, objective, devastating light on the treatment of the poor and the lame in nineteenth century Britain. His device is a mix-up of two characters with identical looks – an impoverished street urchin and the crown prince of Britain. The reader views the Royal Court through the eyes of an urchin, and the streets of London's worst neighborhoods through the eyes of a prince. The book triggered global rage and led England towards radical change in its treatment of the poor and the weak. It is a work of genius.
The Prince and the Pauper is a classic adventure of mistaken identity set in Tudor London and told with Mark Twain's trademark humour and concern for social justice.
Part of the Macmillan Collector's Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition has an afterword by author and journalist Nicolette Jones.
Penniless Tom Canty wonders what it would be like to be a prince. Heir to the throne Edward Tudor dreams of a life outside the royal palace…
In this short novel, an old fisherman takes his boat out to sea, is swept away on the Gulf Stream, and catches an enormous marlin which he can bring back to port only by tying it to his boat. At this he fails. In a protracted battle, a relentless shark hits the marlin repeatedly and eats most of it. Throughout, the old man keeps fighting and never loses his faith in himself or his task. When he finally returns to port without a catch, he sleeps soundly, dreaming of baseball and the great Dimaggio. To me, this novel is an elegant statement of the beauty of life and the corollary notion that it is the journey, and not the destination, that matters.
This powerful and dignified story about a Cuban fisherman's struggle with a great fish has the universal appeal of a struggle between man and the elements, the hunter with the hunted. It earned Hemingway the Nobel prize and has been made into an acclaimed film. Age 13+
Most everyone knows (much of) the Hobbit stories due to contemporary movies. I cherish these books for two reasons. First, the writing is structurally sound; it is literally a graduate course on writing fiction. Second, to me, these books read as a lament and a warning of cataclysmic social and political changes resulting from the rapid advance and widespread adoption of technology (particularly the production of various animals - orcs and others - designed for war). In writing these books, Tolkien saw far.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell by chance into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.
In terms which do not apply to any other novel – except in a trivial or superficial way – this novel is unique, an astounding achievement. Carroll conjures an entire fantastic world and its odd creatures, conventions, heroes, and villains. Most stories maintain a connection to the real world in which the author lived. In Alice, Carroll leaves all that behind in a beautiful and captivating fashion. All at the other end of a rabbit hole. Who knew?
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland) is an 1865 novel by English author Lewis Carroll (the pseudonym of Charles Dodgson). It tells of a young girl named Alice, who falls through a rabbit hole into a subterranean fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures. It is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre. The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as with children.
One of the best-known and most popular works of English-language fiction, its narrative, structure, characters and imagery have been enormously…
I grew up on a family farm surrounded by larger vegetable and dairy operations that used migrant labor. From an early age, my siblings and I were acquainted with the children of these workers, children whom we shared a school desk with one day and were gone the next. On summer vacations, our parents hauled us around in a station wagon with a popup camper, which they parked in out-of-the-way hayfields and on mountainous plateaus, shunning, much to our chagrin, normal campgrounds, and swimming pools. Thus, I grew up exposed to different cultures and environments. My writing reflects my parents’ curiosity, love of books and travel, and devotion to the natural world.
After her mother is killed in a rare Northern Michigan tornado, Sadie Wixom is left with only her father and grandfather to guide her through young adulthood. Miles away in western Saskatchewan, Stefan Montegrand and his Indigenous family are displaced from their land by multinational energy companies. They are taken in temporarily by Sadie’s aunt, a human rights activist who heads a cultural exchange program.
Stefan promptly runs afoul of local authority, but Sadie, intrigued by him and captivated by his story, has grown sympathetic to his cause and complicit in his pushback against prejudiced accusations. Their mutual attraction is stymied when Stefan’s older brother, Joachim, who stayed behind, becomes embroiled in the resistance, and Stefan is compelled to return to Canada. Sadie, concerned for his safety, impulsively follows on a trajectory doomed by cultural misunderstanding and oncoming winter.
After her mother is killed in a rare Northern Michigan tornado, Sadie Wixom is left with only her father and grandfather to guide her through the pitfalls of young adulthood. Hundreds of miles away in western Saskatchewan, Stefan Montegrand and his Indigenous family are forced off their land by multinational energy companies and flawed treaties. They are taken in temporarily by Sadie's aunt, a human rights activist who heads a cultural exchange program. Stefan, whose own father died in prison while on a hunger strike, promptly runs afoul of local authority, but Sadie, intrigued by him and captivated by his…
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