Why won't Stephen Ledberg's family tell him the truth about his biological parents? Why do they try to dissuade him from going to work for a newspaper in Pennsylvania? Perhaps it’s because the newspaper publisher is his biological father? Stephen Ledberg's search begins in America, takes him to Africa, and then home. Along the way he meets a one-armed caddy, an alcoholic school teacher, a young Indian woman with whom he falls in love, and a Jewish hotel owner in the middle of Africa. How d...

A literary rent party to benefit the Hurston/Wright Foundation of African-American fiction, with selections to savor from bestselling authors as well as talented rising stars.Not since Terry McMillan’s Breaking Ice have so many African-American writers been brought together in one volume. A stellar collection of works from more than fifty hot names in fiction, Gumbo represents remarkable synergy. Edited by bestselling luminaries Marita Golden and E. Lynn Harris, t...

A faded film star asks Detroit PI Amos Walker to get her out of a relationship with a deadly mobsterWhen Amos Walker was a teen, he had a poster of Gail Hope on his wall. A 60s bombshell in the beach-blanket tradition, she has fallen hard since her glory days as one of the dying studio system's final starlets. But when she calls on Amos Walker she remains as lovely as ever: an elegant beauty with a $750,000 problem.Since her career evaporated, she has playe...

Having (not) mastered cricket, soccer, rugby, taekwondo, track & field, swimming, golf, basketball and tennis, Marcus gives AFL a go in this very funny tenth book in the series.Marcus is a maths whiz who is not good at sport. His dad is a self-help author who thinks Marcus can achieve anything he sets his mind to, with hilarious results. In illustrated diary format, Marcus's gentle, satiric humour and comic drawings will have readers laughing out loud while learnin...

Poignant and powerful, this debut collection from preeminent writer and critic Jabari Asim heralds his arrival as an exciting new voice in African American fiction.______________________________________________________________________Through a series of fictional episodes set against the backdrop of one of the most turbulent years in modern history, Asim brings into pin-sharp focus how the tumultuous events of '68 affected real people's lives and shaped the ...

Two short stories:Black-Tie Dance: an undercover caper that sends an agent running for his life, dangling from a windowsill and visiting the morgue. Let's hope he makes it out of there alive.Bingo: Not your average deal with the devil.

“Take the advice of no one,” August Kleinman’s mother says to him while August is still a young boy in Germany, and with these words to guide him, he escapes Nazi Germany and goes on to build a fortune, a family, and life on his own terms in America. At the defining moments that reveal character and shape fate — a shocking encounter with a Japanese soldier in a cave during World War II, the audacious decision to start a brewery in Pittsburgh and a violent reaction against threats to its in...

Jean Shepherd was one of America’s favorite humorists, his most notable achievement being the creation of the indefatigable Ralphie Parker and his quest for a BB gun in the holiday classic A Christmas Story. But he was so much more, a comic Garrison Keillor–like figure whose unique voice transcended the airwaves and affected a whole generation of nostalgic Americans.The Ferrari in the Bedroom is Shepherd’s wry, affectionate look at the hang-ups and delusions of Ame...

When his telepathic dog Harry is grounded for nipping another dog, Mike wonders how he'll ever make it through the baseball game without his advice and encouragement. Sequel to "The Dog That Pitched a No-Hitter"

"100 of the" series books brings you yet another exciting book on the 100 of the Greatest Movie Insults of All Time. Read this book and many other 100 of the Best, Most, Ugliest, Top, Coolest and more books.

"If Raymond Chandler were reincarnated as a novelist in south Florida, he couldn't nail it any better than John Dufresne."—Carl HiaasenJohn Dufresne has been hailed by the New York Times as "an original talent . . . [whose] humor is frightfully dark, but . . . dazzling." I Don't Like Where This Is Going continues the misadventures of therapist-on-the-run Wylie "Coyote" Melville. Wylie has witnessed a woman falling to her death outside the Luxor Ho...

Twelve year-old Jet tells anyone who will listen that they've got to face life's frustrations. His older brother violently disagrees. His father firmly believes that chaos breeds chaos and order begets order, and is living disproof of the theorem. Meanwhile his mother is in the throes of the fourteenth of what will ultimately be seventeen religious sects she will belong to, fervently rehearsing the art of speaking in tongues in front of the mirror.Life is eccentrically calm until J...