Taking the beloved symbol of merriment out of his conventional trappings and into the world of imaginative folklore, Baum gives Santa Claus an exciting life that evokes all the charm, warmth, and fantasy that made his Oz stories American classics.

From the author of The Oranging of America comes this inspiring true story about an American family. Rocky takes over a family, at the age of 103, and shows them how to survive.“In the end, it is Apple's affecting writing about his deepest loss that carries this book.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Shows just how well comedy and criticism can mix with understanding. The story parodies the form and language”--Bookforum

Howard Johnson and Walt Disney are determined to acquire land near Orlando, Florida from Margery Post Merriweather, heiress of the family cereal fortune.“Reading this book is like peeling an artichoke. The outer leaves are big belly laughs at tried-and-true themes such as boosterism and oversanitized motels, but as we get below the surface we come upon ever smaller and more delicate morsels of human frailty until we wonder how much more of ourselves we can take.”—Florence King, The...

This is the first collection to appear in twenty years from one of America's best short story writers. His thirteen stories are marvelous—funny, heartbreaking, and wise by turns, and on occasion all three at once.Praise for The Jew of Home Depot and Other Stories:"Thank you, Mr. Apple! There's an art to writing a sad story that's also fun to read... Many of Apple's stories are heartbreaking, but there's hardly a page that doesn't yield a smile at one line or anothe...

So what's a nice Jewish boy like Ira Goldstein doing managing a flashy Puerto Rican boxer named Jésus? What is his mother doing in the arms of Solomon, the scrap-metal king of Detroit? And what, for toppers, is J. Edgar Hoover doing in a chair suspended over a boxing ring in Havana, Cuba? Charge it all to zip—that elusive form of human energy that makes hearts leap, cash flow, ideologies tremble, the world go round. Ira could sure use some zip, so he tries to find it.

It was my fascination itself with the English language that made me a writer," Apple wrote in an essay for the New York Times Book Review. Its endless suggestiveness has carried me through many a plot, entertained me when nothing else could." Growing up in a Yiddish-speaking family, Apple writes a prose that is remarkably attuned to America's cultural and linguistic With the 1976 publication of The Oranging of America, and Other Stories, Apple established himself as one of America's most a...

**From the New York Times bestselling author of Detroit: An American Autopsy"Except for a few drinks, nothing is free in Charlie LeDuff's blunt and touching Work and Other Sins. The laughter and wisdom are hard won, the lessons are often painful... the sad tales and wit from the bar rail are endless and timeless." --The New York Times Book Review**Charlie LeDuff is that rare breed of news reporter—one who can cover hard-to-get-at stories ...

Shortlisted for the Man Booker PrizeThe New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, and Indiebound BestsellerPaul Auster’s magnum opus, 4 3 2 1 presents a sweeping and surprising story of birthright and possibility, of love and of life itself.“An epic bildungsroman . . . . Original and complex . . . . A monumental assemblage of competing and complementary fictions, a novel that contain...

"A vivid report of a journey to the edge of self-destruction," the national bestselling memoir from the acclaimed New York City journalist ( New York Times ).As a child during the Depression and World War II, Pete Hamill learned early that drinking was an essential part of being a man, inseparable from the rituals of celebration, mourning, friendship, romance, and religion. Only later did he discover its ability to destroy...

Strategically placed near the best seat in your home, Uncle John’s Endlessly Engrossing Bathroom Reader is jam-packed with great bathroom reading. It’s the gift that keeps on giving...and giving...and giving....The BRI’s 22nd all-new edition--*Uncle John’s Endlessly Engrossing Bathroom Reader--*is like reading several books all rolled into one: a history book, a weird news anthology, a science text, a dictionary, a how-to manual, a sports magazine, a joke ...

His family has been murdered**, his** past lover is running for her life**, a****nd now, Dr. David Strauss must travel across Europe to track down the killers** in this thriller from the world's #1 bestselling author.Outside New York City, the palatial home of Dr. David Strauss's parents is attacked by gunmen during a glittering party. As he watches helplessly, his wife is murdered.In Los Angeles, Strauss's brother is kille...