Download or read book She Read to Us in the Late Afternoons written by Kathleen Hill and published by Delphinium. This book was released on 2018-10-02 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beginning with a Best American award-winning narrative, Kathleen Hill’s memoir explores defining moments of a life illuminated by novels, read in Nigeria and France and at home in New York. As a child in a music class where a remarkable teacher watches over a classmate marked for tragedy, the author by chance reads Willa Cather’s novel, Lucy Gayheart, and is prepared against her will for death by drowning. And prepared for the teacher’s confessions to the class of a frustrated ambition to become a pianist, her regret for a life that will never be. Later, recently married and living in a newly independent Nigeria, a teacher now herself, the author gives Achebe’s Things Fall Apart to her students and is instructed by them in the violent legacy of colonialism. And loses her American innocence when she visits a nearby abandoned slave port and connects its rusting shackles with the students sitting before her. Reading A Portrait of a Lady, also in Nigeria, she ponders her own new marriage through the lens of Isabel Archer’s cautionary fate, remembers her own adolescent fear that reading might be a way of avoiding experience. A few years later, this time in a town in northern France, haunted by Madame Bovary, by Emma’s solitude and boredom, she puts aside Flaubert’s novel and discovers in Bernanos’ Diary of a Country Priest the poverty and suffering she had failed to see all around her. The memoir closes with a tender account of the author’s friendship with the writer, Diana Trilling, whose failing sight inspires a plan to read aloud Proust’s masterwork, an undertaking that takes six years to complete. Faced with Diana’s approaching death and the mysteries of her own life, the author wonders whether reading after all may not be experience at its most ardent, its most transforming.
Download or read book She Read to Us in theLate Afternoons written by Kathleen Hill and published by Delphinium Books. This book was released on 2017-10-24 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Into the life of the author, a novel appears, as if by chance, and changes everything. As a child in a music class where a remarkable teacher watches over a classmate marked for tragedy, the author comes across Willa Cather’s novel, Lucy Gayheart, and is prepared by fiction for an actual death by drowning of someone near her. Later, recently married and living in a newly independent Nigeria, a teacher now herself, she assigns Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart to her students and is instructed by them in the violent legacy of colonialism, and visits an old slave port where she is made aware of her own benighted American innocence. In Nigeria, too, she is given A Portrait of a Lady and deeply ponders her own new marriage through the lens of Isabel Archer’s cautionary fate, remembers her adolescent fear that reading might be a way of avoiding experience. Afterward, spending a year in northern France, she puts Madame Bovary resolutely aside to discover in Bernanos’ Diary of a Country Priest a detailed guide to the town where she is living, the poverty and suffering hidden within its walls. The memoir closes with a tender account of the author’s friendship with the writer Diana Trilling, whose failing sight inspires a plan to read aloud Proust’s masterwork, an undertaking that requires six years to complete. Faced with Diana’s approaching death and the mysteries of her own life, the author wonders whether reading, after all, may not be experience at its most ardent, its most transforming.
Download or read book I Know This Much Is True written by Wally Lamb and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1998-06-03 with total page 884 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With his stunning debut novel, She's Come Undone, Wally Lamb won the adulation of critics and readers with his mesmerizing tale of one woman's painful yet triumphant journey of self-discovery. Now, this brilliantly talented writer returns with I Know This Much Is True, a heartbreaking and poignant multigenerational saga of the reproductive bonds of destruction and the powerful force of forgiveness. A masterpiece that breathtakingly tells a story of alienation and connection, power and abuse, devastation and renewal--this novel is a contemporary retelling of an ancient Hindu myth. A proud king must confront his demons to achieve salvation. Change yourself, the myth instructs, and you will inhabit a renovated world. When you're the same brother of a schizophrenic identical twin, the tricky thing about saving yourself is the blood it leaves on your bands--the little inconvenience of the look-alike corpse at your feet. And if you're into both survival of the fittest and being your brother's keeper--if you've promised your dying mother--then say so long to sleep and hello to the middle of the night. Grab a book or a beer. Get used to Letterman's gap-toothed smile of the absurd, or the view of the bedroom ceiling, or the influence of random selection. Take it from a godless insomniac. Take it from the uncrazy twin--the guy who beat the biochemical rap. Dominick Birdsey's entire life has been compromised and constricted by anger and fear, by the paranoid schizophrenic twin brother he both deeply loves and resents, and by the past they shared with their adoptive father, Ray, a spit-and-polish ex-Navy man (the five-foot-six-inch sleeping giant who snoozed upstairs weekdays in the spare room and built submarines at night), and their long-suffering mother, Concettina, a timid woman with a harelip that made her shy and self-conscious: She holds a loose fist to her face to cover her defective mouth--her perpetual apology to the world for a birth defect over which she'd had no control. Born in the waning moments of 1949 and the opening minutes of 1950, the twins are physical mirror images who grow into separate yet connected entities: the seemingly strong and protective yet fearful Dominick, his mother's watchful "monkey"; and the seemingly weak and sweet yet noble Thomas, his mother's gentle "bunny." From childhood, Dominick fights for both separation and wholeness--and ultimately self-protection--in a house of fear dominated by Ray, a bully who abuses his power over these stepsons whose biological father is a mystery. I was still afraid of his anger but saw how he punished weakness--pounced on it. Out of self-preservation I hid my fear, Dominick confesses. As for Thomas, he just never knew how to play defense. He just didn't get it. But Dominick's talent for survival comes at an enormous cost, including the breakup of his marriage to the warm, beautiful Dessa, whom he still loves. And it will be put to the ultimate test when Thomas, a Bible-spouting zealot, commits an unthinkable act that threatens the tenuous balance of both his and Dominick's lives. To save himself, Dominick must confront not only the pain of his past but the dark secrets he has locked deep within himself, and the sins of his ancestors--a quest that will lead him beyond the confines of his blue-collar New England town to the volcanic foothills of Sicily 's Mount Etna, where his ambitious and vengefully proud grandfather and a namesake Domenico Tempesta, the sostegno del famiglia, was born. Each of the stories Ma told us about Papa reinforced the message that he was the boss, that he ruled the roost, that what he said went. Searching for answers, Dominick turns to the whispers of the dead, to the pages of his grandfather's handwritten memoir, The History of Domenico Onofrio Tempesta, a Great Man from Humble Beginnings. Rendered with touches of magic realism, Domenico's fablelike tale--in which monkeys enchant and religious statues weep--becomes the old man's confession--an unwitting legacy of contrition that reveals the truth's of Domenico's life, Dominick learns that power, wrongly used, defeats the oppressor as well as the oppressed, and now, picking through the humble shards of his deconstructed life, he will search for the courage and love to forgive, to expiate his and his ancestors' transgressions, and finally to rebuild himself beyond the haunted shadow of his twin. Set against the vivid panoply of twentieth-century America and filled with richly drawn, memorable characters, this deeply moving and thoroughly satisfying novel brings to light humanity's deepest needs and fears, our aloneness, our desire for love and acceptance, our struggle to survive at all costs. Joyous, mystical, and exquisitely written, I Know This Much Is True is an extraordinary reading experience that will leave no reader untouched.
Download or read book Afternoon Men written by Anthony Powell and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2014-11-06 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A social comedy about "a company of giddyheads" and their wanderings in London's Bohemia.
Download or read book These Precious Days written by Ann Patchett and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2021-11-23 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The beloved New York Times bestselling author reflects on home, family, friendships and writing in this deeply personal collection of essays. "The elegance of Patchett’s prose is seductive and inviting: with Patchett as a guide, readers will really get to grips with the power of struggles, failures, and triumphs alike." —Publisher's Weekly “Any story that starts will also end.” As a writer, Ann Patchett knows what the outcome of her fiction will be. Life, however, often takes turns we do not see coming. Patchett ponders this truth in these wise essays that afford a fresh and intimate look into her mind and heart. At the center of These Precious Days is the title essay, a surprising and moving meditation on an unexpected friendship that explores “what it means to be seen, to find someone with whom you can be your best and most complete self.” When Patchett chose an early galley of actor and producer Tom Hanks’ short story collection to read one night before bed, she had no idea that this single choice would be life changing. It would introduce her to a remarkable woman—Tom’s brilliant assistant Sooki—with whom she would form a profound bond that held monumental consequences for them both. A literary alchemist, Patchett plumbs the depths of her experiences to create gold: engaging and moving pieces that are both self-portrait and landscape, each vibrant with emotion and rich in insight. Turning her writer’s eye on her own experiences, she transforms the private into the universal, providing us all a way to look at our own worlds anew, and reminds how fleeting and enigmatic life can be. From the enchantments of Kate DiCamillo’s children’s books (author of The Beatryce Prophecy) to youthful memories of Paris; the cherished life gifts given by her three fathers to the unexpected influence of Charles Schultz’s Snoopy; the expansive vision of Eudora Welty to the importance of knitting, Patchett connects life and art as she illuminates what matters most. Infused with the author’s grace, wit, and warmth, the pieces in These Precious Days resonate deep in the soul, leaving an indelible mark—and demonstrate why Ann Patchett is one of the most celebrated writers of our time.
Download or read book The Callender Papers written by Cynthia Voigt and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-03-26 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Think carefully. That’s the advice Jean Wainwright always gets from her beloved Aunt Constance, Jean’s guardian and headmistress at the boarding school where she lives. It’s advice that proves valuable when Jean finds herself spending the summer far from home, sorting out family papers for the reclusive Mr. Thiel, a trustee of Aunt Constance’s school and the widower of her childhood friend Irene Callender. At Mr. Thiel’s isolated country estate, Jean is surrounded by bewildering questions from the past. Why is there such hatred between Mr. Thiel and his late wife’s brother? Was her death an accident? And what happened to their child, who disappeared after Irene Thiel’s death? Do the answers lie in the Callender papers? And will searching for the answers put Jean’s own life in jeopardy?
Download or read book Still Waters in Niger written by Kathleen Hill and published by Northwestern University Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An Irish-American woman, who had lived in Niger, returns after seventeen years to visit her daughter Zara, who works in a village clinic treating children who are suffering from starvation.
Download or read book Who Occupies This House written by Kathleen Hill and published by Northwestern University Press. This book was released on 2010-10-30 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An Irish-American woman grieves the death of her mother and the impending sale of the house that has belonged to her family for four generations, prompting her to go through letters, journal, and mysterious areas of the house to discover the devastation and loss experienced by her ancestors.
Download or read book Verity written by Colleen Hoover and published by Grand Central Publishing. This book was released on 2021-10-05 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whose truth is the lie? Stay up all night reading the sensational psychological thriller that has readers obsessed, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Too Late and It Ends With Us. #1 New York Times Bestseller · USA Today Bestseller · Globe and Mail Bestseller · Publishers Weekly Bestseller Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity’s notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn’t expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity's recollection of the night her family was forever altered. Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents could devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen’s feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife’s words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue loving her.
Download or read book Sunday Afternoon written by and published by . This book was released on 1878 with total page 1194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Quarter Past Two On A Wednesday Afternoon written by Linda Newbery and published by Random House. This book was released on 2014-08-14 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It was the day when everything stopped... At quarter past two on a hot summer afternoon, Anna’s beautiful, headstrong older sister Rose disappears. And Anna was the last person to see her. Their parents, Rose’s friends, the police – no-one can find where Rose has gone or who might have taken her. Twenty years later, Rose is still missing. Anna is the only one who still believes she might be alive, and unable to take control of her own life while her sister’s disappearance remains unsolved, she begins to hunt for the truth herself. But the search for Rose will uncover secrets she is not prepared for... The compelling novel from the Costa Award-winning author. Originally published in hardback as Quarter Past Two on a Wednesday Afternoon
Download or read book The Cambridge Review written by and published by . This book was released on 1921 with total page 572 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Luna Book 1 of The Luna Chronicle written by S. C. Dane and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2013-03-29 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beth was raised as a responsible member of human society. Then she meets Alec, a mysterious stranger, who knows by her scent that she is a rare Luna, the only being who can ensure the future of his wolf-pack. When human beings injure Alec, Beth retreats from the stagnant safety of her human world and surrenders her fate to the wolf-man. Beth's and Alec's love for one another ignites the power of the Luna that courses through her veins, and she must learn the laws of being wild wolf if she is to live with Alec and his pack. But they are not the only wolf-people who covet the blood of Luna, and she must learn to harness the consuming power of her Luna and use it to safeguard her new family, even if it means giving up the very thing she was born to protect. Set in the countryside of Maine, this novel unfolds as Beth surrenders her body to its absolute essence while she is protected by the loyal wolves she is destined to love. But their world is not only precious, it is also perilous, and her freshened passion for life just may be the catalyst for her death.
Download or read book Our Island written by Donald Junkins and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2015-11-30 with total page 659 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: About Junkins novel Orchards of Almonds: Don Junkins semi-autobiographical novel, Orchards of Almonds, blossoms with a Camelot-studded cast of characters that includes Kennedys alive and dead, LBJ and company, Reagan, and dozens of California politicos, academics, Viet Nam protesters and movie stars. . . . Junkinsas much the poet in design as in languagehas achieved another triumph of deftness, irony and grace. Allen Josephs (On Hemingway and Spain) I was bowled over by Puss. I have never read, in any other literary work, such a profoundly pure and honest and dead-on rendering of the young girl. And that coupled with her extraordinary father/daughter relationship, it moved me deeply. He did for that relationship what Hemingway did for father and son in Indian Camp. Linda Miller (Letters from the Lost Generation: Gerald and Sara Murphy and Friends)
Download or read book Hearings written by United States. Congress. House and published by . This book was released on 1948 with total page 646 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Commodity Transactions written by United States. Congress. House. Select Committee to Investigate Commodity Transactions and published by . This book was released on 1949 with total page 646 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reviews impact of USDA commodity purchasing and procedures, and of wartime commodity price control removal on post-war commodity market speculation.
Download or read book Readings in Contemporary Literature written by Ernest Hanes and published by . This book was released on 1928 with total page 536 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
