Download or read book Guests on Earth written by Lee Smith and published by Algonquin Books. This book was released on 2013-10-15 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Reading Lee Smith ranks among the great pleasures of American fiction . . . Gives evidence again of the grace and insight that distinguish her work.” —Robert Stone, author of Death of the Black-Haired Girl It’s 1936 when orphaned thirteen-year-old Evalina Toussaint is admitted to Highland Hospital, a mental institution in Asheville, North Carolina, known for its innovative treatments for nervous disorders and addictions. Taken under the wing of the hospital’s most notable patient, Zelda Fitzgerald, Evalina witnesses cascading events that lead up to the tragic fire of 1948 that killed nine women in a locked ward, Zelda among them. Author Lee Smith has created, through a seamless blending of fiction and fact, a mesmerizing novel about a world apart--in which art and madness are luminously intertwined.

Download or read book The Permanent Coup written by Lee Smith and published by Center Street. This book was released on 2020-08-18 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the phony Russia collusion narrative to the coordinated riots laying waste to US cities, it's the same ongoing operation orchestrated by the left and targeting not just President Trump but hundreds of millions of Americans who revere their country and what it stands for. For the first time, crusading investigative journalist Lee Smith reveals who was responsible and the never before known involvement of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and senior military officials who engineered a coup against a sitting president. Beginning in late 2015, political operatives, intelligence officials, and the press pushed a conspiracy theory about Trump-he was a Russian asset and spied on his campaign and his presidency in order to undo an election. Because the ultimate goal of the anti-Trump operation is not simply to topple the president but rather to change the character and constitution of the country, the Deep State's machinations didn't stop even after Trump was cleared of charges of "colluding" with Moscow. Their efforts became even more fierce, more desperate, and more divisive, threatening to scar America permanently. In their zeal to bring down President Trump, Deep State conspirators had unwittingly revealed the origins of the anti-Trump operation and exposed corruption at the very highest levels of the Democratic party-including former Vice President Biden and his boss, Barack Obama. Lee Smith brings to this story the same incisive reporting and commentary that distinguished his runaway bestseller, The Plot Against the President. His investigation, identifying crimes and abuses committed by senior US officials, was later confirmed by a major Department of Justice report. For The Permanent Coup, Smith again enjoys unrivaled and exclusive access to the main players defending America and uncovering Deep State crimes-including Congressman Devin Nunes and the president's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.

Download or read book Fair and Tender Ladies written by Lee Smith and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2011-07-05 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A tour de force." LOS ANGELES TIMES Ivy Rowe may not have much education, but her thoughts are classic, and her experiences are fascinating. Born near the turn of the century in the Virginia Mountains, Ivy's story is told completely through letters she is forever writing, and that you will forever want to read.... "Few readers will be dry-eyed as they watch this extraordinary woman disappear around that last bend in the road." CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Download or read book Oral History written by Lee Smith and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2011-12-06 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The best novel so far by a writer whose growth has been steady and sure . . . . [Oral History] tells the story of the Cantrell family and the odd curse that its members believe to have hung over them. It is a tale that begins in the late 19th century with Granny Younger, the midwife, and continues well into the 20th century through several generations of Cantrells; it is also a tale deeply rooted in the folk culture of the Appalachians, a tale that in the best tradition of folklore contains 'story upon story.'" -- The Washington Post Book World "A novel as dark, winding, complicated as the hill country itself. . . You could make comparisons to Faulkner and Carson McCullers, to The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying, and Wuthering Heights. You could employ all those familiar ringing terms of praise: 'rare,' 'brilliant,' 'unforgettable.' But Lee Smith and Oral History make you wish all those phrases were fresh and new, that all those comparisons had never before been made. For this is a novel deserving of unique praise." -- The Village Voice "Deft and assured . . . She is clearly drunk on the language of Appalachia, on its stories and its people . . . . She is nothing less than masterly." -- The New York Times Book Review

Download or read book The Last Girls written by Lee Smith and published by Algonquin Books. This book was released on 2002-08-12 with total page 395 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On a beautiful June day in 1965, a dozen girls-classmates at a picturesque Blue Ridge women's college-launched their homemade raft (inspired by Huck Finn's) on a trip down the Mississippi. It's Girls A-Go-Go Down the Mississippi read the headline in the Paducah, Kentucky, paper. Thirty-five years later, four of those "girls" reunite to cruise the river again. This time it's on the luxury steamboat, The Belle of Natchez, and there's no publicity. This time, when they reach New Orleans, they'll give the river the ashes of a fifth rafter-beautiful Margaret ("Baby") Ballou. Revered for her powerful female characters, here Lee Smith tells a brilliantly authoritative story of how college pals who grew up in an era when they were still called "girls" have negotiated life as "women." Harriet Holding is a hesitant teacher who has never married (she can't explain why, even to herself). Courtney Gray struggles to step away from her Southern Living-style life. Catherine Wilson, a sculptor, is suffocating in her happy third marriage. Anna Todd is a world-famous romance novelist escaping her own tragedies through her fiction. And finally there is Baby, the girl they come to bury-along with their memories of her rebellions and betrayals. THE LAST GIRLS is wonderful reading. It's also wonderfully revealing of women's lives-of the idea of romance, of the relevance of past to present, of memory and desire.

Download or read book The Plot Against the President written by Lee Smith and published by Center Street. This book was released on 2019-10-29 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Investigative journalist Lee Smith uses his unprecedented access to Congressman Devin Nunes, former head of the House Intelligence Committee, to expose the deep state operation against the president -- and the American people. Investigative journalist Lee Smith's The Plot Against the Presidenttells the story of how Congressman Devin Nunes uncovered the operation to bring down the commander-in-chief. While popular opinion holds that Russia subverted democratic processes during the 2016 elections, the real damage was done not by Moscow or any other foreign actor. Rather, this was a slow-moving coup engineered by a coterie of the American elite, the "deep state," targeting not only the president, but also the rest of the country. The plot officially began July 31, 2016 with the counterintelligence investigation that the FBI opened to probe Russian infiltration of Donald Trump's presidential campaign. But the bureau never followed any Russians. In fact, it was an operation to sabotage Trump, the candidate, then president-elect, and finally the presidency. The conspirators included political operatives, law enforcement and intelligence officials, and the press. The plot was uncovered by Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and his investigative team. They understood that the target of the operation wasn't just Trump, but rather the institutions that sustain our republic. A country where operatives use the intelligence and security services to protect their privileges by spying on Americans, coordinating with the press, and using extra-constitutional means to undermine an election then undo a presidency is more like the third world than the republic envisioned by the founding fathers. Without Nunes and his team, the plot against the president -- and against the country -- never would have been revealed. Told from the perspective of Nunes and his crack investigators -- men and women who banded together to do the right thing at a crucial moment for our democracy -- the story of the biggest political scandal in a generation reads like a great detective novel, feels like a classic cowboy movie. The congressman from the cattle capital of California really did fight corruption in Washington. Devin Nunes took on the "deep state."

Download or read book Dimestore written by Lee Smith and published by Algonquin Books. This book was released on 2016-03-22 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A memoir that shines with a bright spirit, a generous heart and an entertaining knack for celebrating absurdity.”—The New York Times Book Review “This is Smith at her finest.”—Library Journal, starred review Set deep in the mountains of Virginia, the Grundy of Lee Smith’s youth was a place of coal miners, tent revivals, mountain music, drive-in theaters, and her daddy’s dimestore. When she was sent off to college to gain some “culture,” she understood that perhaps the richest culture she would ever know was the one she was leaving. Lee Smith’s fiction has always lived and breathed with the rhythms and people of the Appalachian South. But never before has she written her own story. Dimestore’s fifteen essays are crushingly honest, wise and perceptive, and superbly entertaining. Together, they create an inspiring story of the birth of a writer and a poignant look at a way of life that has all but vanished.

Download or read book Blue Marlin written by Lee Smith and published by . This book was released on 2020-04-21 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On a patched-up family vacation to Key West, a young girl seeks out movie stars and redemption for her fractured family.

Download or read book Family Linen written by Lee Smith and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2014-02-04 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Sybill Hess drives over to the hypnotist’s office, she hopes he can cure her of the headaches interrupting her sleep the way her friend Betty once saw a woman on TV cure a woman’s stammer. But what Dr. Diamond uncovers from Sybill’s subconscious goes much deeper than her nervousness over a new tenant who seems to want a date. A shocking memory from Sybill’s past threatens to upend everything she thinks she knows about herself and her family. But is it even real?

Download or read book Mrs Darcy and the Blue Eyed Stranger written by Lee Smith and published by Algonquin Books. This book was released on 2011-05-31 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lee Smith is a "teller of tales for tale tellers to admire and envy . . . [and] a reader’s dream" (Houston Chronicle). A celebrated and bestselling writer with a dozen novels under her name, including Fair and Tender Ladies, Oral History, and The Last Girls, she is just as widely recognized for her exceptional short stories. Here, in Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger, Smith collects seven brand-new stories along with seven of her favorites from three earlier collections. The result? A book of dazzling richness. As the New York Times Book Review put it, "In al- most every one of [her stories] there is a moment of vision, or love, or unclothed wonder that transforms something plain into something transcendent."

Download or read book The Last Hour of Gann written by R. Smith and published by . This book was released on 2018-09-11 with total page 694 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It was her last chance:Amber Bierce had nothing left except her sister and two tickets on Earth's first colony-ship. She entered her Sleeper with a five-year contract and the promise of a better life, but awakened in wreckage on an unknown world. For the survivors, there is no rescue, no way home and no hope until they are found by Meoraq-a holy warrior more deadly than any hungering beast on this hostile new world...but whose eyes show a different sort of hunger when he looks at her.It was his last year of freedom:Uyane Meoraq is a Sword of Sheul, God's own instrument of judgment, victor of hundreds of trials, with a conqueror's rights over all men. Or at least he was until his father's death. Now, without divine intervention, he will be forced to assume stewardship over House Uyane and lose the life he has always known. At the legendary temple of Xi'Matezh, Meoraq hopes to find the deliverance he seeks, but the humans he encounters on his pilgrimage may prove too great a test even for him...especially the one called Amber, behind whose monstrous appearance burns a woman's heart unlike any he has ever known.From R. Lee Smith, author of Heat and Cottonwood, comes an epic new story of desire, darkness and the dawn that comes after The Last Hour of Gann.

Download or read book The Devil s Dream written by Lee Smith and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2011-03-01 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now back in print from the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Girls. It was in 1833 or '34 that Moses Bailey brought young Kate Malone down to Cold Spring Holler to be his wife. But Moses, wanting to become a preacher like his daddy was, left Kate time and again to look after the kids while he went out in search of a sign from God. Though he warned them about the evils of playing the fiddle, a kind of music he likened to the devil's own laughter, it passed the time for his bride and children, and soon became not just a way of life for the Baileys, but a curse that would last for generations.

Download or read book Black Mountain Breakdown written by Lee Smith and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2012-03-06 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Crystal Spangler lives in rural Appalachia. She's the apple of her mother's eye -- not yet beautiful, but she will be. She's the most popular girl at Black Rock High. She makes cheerleader, gets good grades, and is elected beauty queen. Crystal discovers God, goes to college, and falls in love. When she comes home, she's disheveled and confused. Crystal becomes a wealthy politician's wife. But there's something calling her, drawing her back to where it all began, in the shadow of Black Mountain . . .

Download or read book The Onion Field written by Joseph Wambaugh and published by Delta. This book was released on 2007-08-28 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A fascinating account of a double tragedy: one physical, the other psychological.”—Truman Capote This is the frighteningly true story of two young cops and two young robbers whose separate destinies fatally cross one March night in a bizarre execution in a deserted Los Angeles field. “A complex story of tragic proportions . . . more ambitious than In Cold Blood and equally compelling!”—The New York Times “Once the action begins it is difficult to put the book down. . . . Wambaugh’s compelling account of this true story is destined for the bestseller lists.”—Library Journal

Download or read book Witch written by Glenn Puit and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2005-12-06 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on extensive interviews with the accused herself, here is the sordid, twisted, and surprising story of Brookey Lee West—a successful technical writer from Silicon Valley who became Las Vegas’ most notorious female serial killer. In February, 2001, police uncovered the decomposed remains of Christine Smith bagged like garbage in a Las Vegas storage unit. She’d been dead for years. Next to the makeshift tomb were books on witchcraft and Satanism. It didn’t take long for authorities to discover that the owner of the foul Canyon Gate Unit #317 was Christine’s own daughter, Brookey Lee West. Further investigation revealed something even more shocking—a one-woman crime spree that spanned two decades, stretched from Nevada to California, and may have counted among its victims Brookey’s own husband and brother....

Download or read book Heart of Palm written by Laura Lee Smith and published by Grove/Atlantic, Inc.. This book was released on 2013-04-02 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A spirited Southern family saga” from the acclaimed author of The Ice House: “Fans of Fannie Flagg will enjoy this novel” (The Plain Dealer). Once enlivened by the trade in Palm Sunday palms and moonshine, Utina, Florida, hasn’t seen economic growth in decades, and no family is more emblematic of the local reality than the Bravos. Deserted by the patriarch years ago, the Bravos are held together in equal measure by love, unspoken blame, and tenuously brokered truces. The story opens on a sweltering July day, as Frank Bravo, dutiful middle son, is awakened by a distress call. Frank dreams of escaping to cool mountain rivers, but he’s only made it ten minutes from the family restaurant he manages every day and the decrepit, Spanish moss–draped house he was raised in, and where his strong-willed mother and spitfire sister—both towering redheads, equally matched in stubbornness—are fighting another battle royale. Little do any of them know that Utina is about to meet the tide of development that has already engulfed the rest of Northeast Florida. When opportunity knocks, tempers ignite, secrets are unearthed, and each of the Bravos is forced to confront the tragedies of their shared past. “An incandescent first novel set in the small town of Utina, Florida, whose inhabitants struggle to balance tradition and progress.” —O, The Oprah Magazine “Intelligence, heart, wit . . . Laura Lee Smith has all the tools and Heart of Palm is a very impressive first novel.” —Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Empire Falls

Download or read book The Ice House written by Laura Lee Smith and published by Atlantic Books. This book was released on 2019-01-03 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The heartrending tale of a man on the verge of losing both his livelihood and his relationship with his only son. From a writer who's been praised for her 'intelligence, heart, wit' (Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls): The Ice House follows the beleaguered MacKinnons as they weather the possible loss of the family business, a serious medical diagnosis and the slings and arrows of familial discord. Johnny MacKinnon is on the verge of losing it all. The ice factory he's run for decades is facing devastating fines following an accident and may have to close. He hasn't spoken to his son since Corran's heroin addiction finally drove Johnny to breaking point. And now, after a collapse on the factory floor, it appears Johnny may have a brain tumour. Johnny's been ordered to take it easy, but in some ways, he thinks, what's left to lose? Witty and heartbreaking, The Ice House is a vibrant portrait of multifaceted, exquisitely human characters that readers will not soon forget.