Download or read book The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno written by Ellen Bryson and published by St. Martin's Griffin. This book was released on 2011-06-07 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bartholomew Fortuno, the World's Thinnest Man, believes that his unusual body is a gift. Hired by none other than P.T. Barnum to work at his spectacular American Museum--a modern marvel of macabre displays and live performances by Barnum's cast of freaks and oddities--Fortuno has reached the pinnacle of his career. But after a decade of solid performance, he finds his contentment flagging. When a carriage pulls up outside the Museum in the dead of night, bearing Barnum and a mysterious veiled woman--rumored to be a new performer--Fortuno's curiosity is piqued. And when Barnum asks Fortuno to follow her and report back on her whereabouts, his world is turned upsidedown. Why is Barnum so obsessed with this woman? Who is she, really? And why has she taken such a hold of the hearts of those around her? The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno is a moving novelabout human appetites and longings. With pitch-perfect prose, Ellen Bryson explores what it means to be profoundly unique-- and the power of love to transcend even the greatest divisions.
Download or read book Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno written by Ellen Bryson and published by Picador. This book was released on 2011-04-01 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the late 1860s, as America was recovering from Lincoln's assassination, a man named P.T. Barnum opened a museum in New York City. Filled with oddities from around the world, it also hosted a number of sideshow freaks - including Bartholomew Fortuno's narrator, the Human Skeleton. This is the atmospheric and utterly original story of how he fell in love with the Bearded Lady. Bartholomew Fortuno, the World's Thinnest Man, believes that his unusual body is a gift. Hired by none other than P.T. Barnum to work at his spectacular American Museum - a modern marvel of macabre displays and live performances by Barnum's cast of freaks and oddities - Fortuno has reached the pinnacle of his career. But after a decade of solid performance, he finds his contentment flagging. When a carriage pulls up outside the museum in the dead of night, bearing Barnum and a mysterious veiled woman - rumoured to be a new performer - Fortuno's curiosity is piqued. And when Barnum asks Fortuno to follow her and report back on her whereabouts, his world is turned upside-down. Why is Barnum so obsessed with this woman? Who is she, really? And why has she taken such a hold of the hearts of those around her?
Download or read book Trophy Son written by Douglas Brunt and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2017-05-30 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Growing up in the wealthy suburbs of Philadelphia, Anton Stratis is groomed to be one thing only: the #1 tennis player in the world. Trained relentlessly by his obsessive father, a former athlete who plans every minute of his son's life, Anton both aspires to greatness and resents its all-consuming demands ... Anton explodes from nowhere onto the professional scene and soon becomes one of the top-ranked players in the world, with a coach, a trainer, and an entourage. But as Anton struggles to find a balance between stardom and family, he begins to make compromises"--Amazon.com.
Download or read book Ordinary Hazards written by Anna Bruno and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2020-08-18 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For fans of Celeste Ng and Mary Beth Keane comes an impeccably paced and transfixing debut novel that “vividly renders the messiness of a single human life in all its joy and heartbreak” (Claire Lombardo, New York Times bestselling author). It’s 5 p.m. on a Wednesday when Emma settles into her hometown bar with a motley crew of locals, all unaware that a series of decisions over the course of a single night is about to change their lives forever. As the evening unfolds, key details about Emma’s history emerge, and the past comes bearing down on her like a freight train. Why has Emma, a powerhouse in the business world, ended up here? What is she running away from? And what is she willing to give up to recapture the love she once cherished? A “crisp, haunting, and intelligent” (Stephen Markley, author of Ohio) exploration of modern love, guilt, and the place we call home, Ordinary Hazards follows one woman’s epic journey back to a life worth living.
Download or read book The Great and Only Barnum The Tremendous Stupendous Life of Showman P T Barnum written by Candace Fleming and published by Schwartz & Wade. This book was released on 2009-09-08 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover the true story of P.T. Barnum, the man who created the world-famous Barnum & Bailey Circus, as featured in the movie The Greatest Showman! The award-winning author of The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary, Amelia Lost, and Our Eleanor brings us the larger-than-life biography of showman P. T. Barnum. Known far and wide for his jumbo elephants, midgets, and three-ring circuses, here’ s a complete and captivating look at the man behind the Greatest Show on Earth. Readers can visit Barnum’s American Museum; meet Tom Thumb, the miniature man (only 39 inches tall) and his tinier bride (32 inches); experience the thrill Barnum must have felt when, at age 60, he joined the circus; and discover Barnum’s legacy to the 19th century and beyond. Drawing on old circus posters, photographs, etchings, ticket stubs—and with incredible decorative art by Ray Fenwick—this book presents history as it’s never been experienced before—a show-stopping event!
Download or read book The Last Empress written by Anchee Min and published by HMH. This book was released on 2008-04-07 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Admirers of Empress Orchid will be interested in this sequel. Others may find the introduction to relatively modern Chinese history a revelation” (Rocky Mountain News). During the tumultuous end of the nineteenth century in China, the only constant was the power wielded by one person: the resilient, ever-resourceful Tzu Hsi, Lady Yehonala—or Empress Orchid—as readers came to know her in Anchee Min’s critically acclaimed novel covering the first part of her life. In The Last Empress, Orchid moves from the intimacy of the concubine quarters into the spotlight of the world stage. Devastating personal losses take their toll, leaving her yearning to step aside, but only she—allied with the progressives, but loyal to the conservative Manchu clan of her dynasty—can hold the nation’s rival factions together. Anchee Min offers a powerful revisionist portrait based on extensive research of one of the most important figures in Chinese history. Viciously maligned by the western press of the time as the “Dragon Lady,” a manipulative, blood-thirsty woman who held onto power at all costs, the woman Min gives us is a compelling, very human leader who assumed power reluctantly, and who sacrificed all she had to protect those she loved and an empire that was doomed to die. “The vision of an empress who very nearly had it all: vulnerability and strength, motherhood and power, earthiness and dignity, compassion and ambition.” —The Washington Post “Invokes the intrigue and opulence of nineteenth-century China while telling the story of its improbably dominant ruler.” —Los Angeles Times
Download or read book The Metaphysical Touch written by Sylvia Brownrigg and published by Picador. This book was released on 2000-06-03 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year In 1991 Emily Piper is a graduate student finishing her dissertation on metaphysics, when her home and work are destroyed in the Berkeley-Oakland fires. With her life's work in cinders, she retreats in shock to the small coastal town of Mendocino. It is here that Emily becomes hesitantly involved in the early days of Net chat rooms. Soon, Emily, dubbed Pi, wanders into the quixotic thoughts of JD, a mysterious figure living on America's opposite coast. What develops is a tentative, stimulating and perilous relationship. Who is JD, and furthermore, who, now, is Pi? This is the highly original, multilayered story of two lost souls whose charged connection gives new meaning to the "mind/body problem."
Download or read book The Girl Giant written by Kristen den Hartog and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-06-12 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Something good can come from even the most terrifying things. For eve y thing that is taken away, something else is given.” Ruth Brennan is a giant, “a rare, organic blunder pressed into a dollhouse world,” as she calls herself. Growing up in a small town, where even an ordinary person can’t simply fade into the background, there is no hiding the fact that Ruth is different: she can see it in the eyes of everyone around her, even her own parents. James and Elspeth Brennan are emotionally at sea, struggling with the devastation wrought on their lives by World War II and with their unspoken terror that the daughter they love may, like so much else, one day be taken away from them. But fate works in strange ways, and Ruth finds that for all the things that go unsaid around her, she is nonetheless able to see deeply into the secret hearts of others—their past traumas, their present fears, and the people they might become, if only they have courage enough.
Download or read book Who Killed Piet Barol written by Richard Mason and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2017-01-24 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A haunting, gloriously imagined novel by the acclaimed author of History of a Pleasure Seeker (“a classic” —The Washington Post), set in early twentieth-century colonial Cape Town, and a forest full of witch doctors, stingless bees, and hungry leopards. It is 1914. Germany has just declared war on France. Piet Barol was a tutor before he came to South Africa, his wife, Stacey, an opera singer. In Cape Town they are living the high life, impersonating French aristocrats—but their lies are catching up with them. The Barols’ furniture business is on the verge of collapse. They need top-quality wood, and they need it cheap. Piet enlists two Xhosa [pron. KO-sa] men to lead him into a vast forest, in search of a fabled tree. The Natives Land Act has just abolished property rights for the majority of black South Africans, and whole families have been ripped apart. Piet’s guides have their own reasons to lead him through the trees, and to keep him alive while he’s useful to them. Far from the comforting certainties of his privileged existence, Piet finds the prospect of riches beyond measure—and the chance to make great art. He is sure he’ll be able to buy what he needs for a few glass trinkets. But he’s underestimating the Xhosa, who believe the spirits of their ancestors live in this sacred forest. Battle lines are drawn. When Piet’s powers of persuasion fail him, he resorts to darker, more dangerous talents to get what he is determined to have. As the story moves to its devastating conclusion, every character becomes a suspect, and Piet’s arrogance and guile put him on a collision course with forces he cannot understand and that threaten his seemingly enchanted existence.
Download or read book Born on the Continent written by Getrude Matshe and published by Createspace. This book was released on 2006 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Getrude Ruwadzano Munyaradzi Matshe is a vibrant bundle of African energy whose drive, zest and passion for life inspires others. Born in Zimbabwe 39 years ago Getrude now lives in Wellington, New Zealand with her husband and three children. In this autobiography she shares her many adventures on the road to arriving in the Land of the Long White Cloud. This wonderfully inspirational and motivational narrative illustrates what can be accomplished by a person who has determination and faith in achieving personal goals. Her guiding philosophy of life is encapsulated in the African concept of Ubuntu. This refers to the respect and compassion people show one another. Her own life story reflects Ubuntu as she finds herself in difficult situations and experiences support from individuals who are friends and mere acquaintances. She also tells of the human loss and heartache caused by AIDS in Africa. She asks that people become open and available to each other as they share their space on the planet.
Download or read book 2011 Guide To Literary Agents written by Chuck Sambuchino and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2010-07-08 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now includes subscription to GLA online (the agents section of writersmarket.com)! Now in its 20th year, Guide to Literary Agents is a writer's best resource for finding a literary agent who can represent their work to publishing houses, big and small. The days when a writer could deal directly with a large publisher are over. Literary agents represent writers and shepherd manuscripts to the right editor; and a good representative is the difference between a published book and a manuscript that never gets read. To help writers acquire an agent, GLA provides names and specialties for more than 750 individual agents around the United States and the world. GLA includes more than 90 pages of original articles on finding the best agent to represent your work and how to seal the deal. From identifying your genre to writing query letters to avoiding agent pet peeves, GLA will help writers deal with agents every step of the way. NOTE: Subsciption to GLA online NOT included with e-book edition.
Download or read book The Autobiography of Mrs Tom Thumb written by Melanie Benjamin and published by Bantam. This book was released on 2012-04-03 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For anyone who loves the historical novels of Sara Gruen, Geraldine Brooks, and E. L. Doctorow, a barnstorming tale of an irrepressible, brawling, bawdy era and the remarkable woman who had the courage to match the unique spirit of America’s Gilded Age. She was only two feet, eight inches tall, but more than a century later, her legend reaches out to us. As a child, Mercy Lavinia “Vinnie” Warren Bump was encouraged to live a life hidden away from the public. Instead, she reached out to the immortal impresario P. T. Barnum, married the tiny superstar General Tom Thumb in the wedding of the century, and became the world’s most unexpected celebrity. Vinnie’s wedding captivated the nation, preempted coverage of the Civil War, and even ushered her into the White House. But her fame also endangered the person she prized most: her similarly sized sister, Minnie, a gentle soul unable to escape the glare of Vinnie’s spotlight. A barnstorming novel of the Gilded Age, The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb is the irresistible epic of a heroine who conquered the country with a heart as big as her dreams—and whose story will surely win over yours. Look for special features inside. Join the Circle for author chats and more. BONUS: This edition contains a timeline, an interview with Melanie Benjamin, and an excerpt from Melanie Benjamin's Alice I Have Been.
Download or read book 2014 Guide to Literary Agents written by Chuck Sambuchino and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2013-08-09 with total page 911 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The best resource available for finding a literary agent! No matter what you're writing--fiction or nonfiction, books for kids or adults--you need a literary agent to secure a book deal. The 2014 Guide to Literary Agents is your essential resource for finding that literary agent--without fear of being scammed--and getting your book published. Along with listing information for more than 1,000 literary agents who represent writers and their work, this new, updated edition of GLA includes: • "New Agent Spotlights"--calling out literary reps actively building lists right now. • "How I Got My Agent" success stories from writers who describe their paths from aspiring author to published success. • Informative articles on query letters, synopsis writing, voice and craft, author platform, nonfiction book proposals, researching agents, and more. • Includes "Ask the Agent" profiles of individual literary agents who are currently seeking writers.
Download or read book 2013 Guide to Literary Agents written by Chuck Sambuchino and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2012-08-08 with total page 714 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Best Resource Available for Finding a Literary Agent! No matter what you're writing--fiction or nonfiction, books for kids or adults--you need a literary agent to secure a book deal. The 2013 Guide to Literary Agents is your essential resource for finding that literary agent--without fear of being scammed--and getting your book published. This new, updated edition of GLA includes: • Completely updated contact and submission information for more than 1,000 literary agents seeking new clients. • Craft and business advice from more than 35 literary agents--on topics such as query letters, children's books, synopses and proposals, memoir writing, first chapters, conferences, platform and more! • 12 "Breaking In" success stories from debut writers who explain how they got their books published. Includes "New Agent Spotlights"--profiles on literary reps actively building their client list right now. "The Guide to Literary Agents was an indispensable tool for me when I was querying agents. I highly recommend it for any aspiring author--in addition to a comprehensive listing of literary agents, it contains valuable information about the query and submission process." --Darien Gee, author of Friendship Bread: A Novel "I just signed with literary agent Chip MacGregor, and I came upon him through the Guide to Literary Agents. If not for GLA, I'd probably still be looking." --Les Edgerton, author of Hooked as well as several novels PLEASE NOTE: Free subscriptions are NOT included with the e-book edition of this title.
Download or read book How to Be an American Housewife written by Margaret Dilloway and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2010-08-05 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A mother-daughter story about the strong pull of tradition, and the lure and cost of breaking free of it. When Shoko decided to marry an American GI and leave Japan, she had her parents' blessing, her brother's scorn, and a gift from her husband-a book on how to be a proper American housewife. As she crossed the ocean to America, Shoko also brought with her a secret she would need to keep her entire life... Half a century later, Shoko's plans to finally return to Japan and reconcile with her brother are derailed by illness. In her place, she sends her grown American daughter, Sue, a divorced single mother whose own life isn't what she hoped for. As Sue takes in Japan, with all its beauty and contradictions, she discovers another side to her mother and returns to America unexpectedly changed and irrevocably touched.
Download or read book Molecular Breeding for Sustainable Crop Improvement written by Vijay Rani Rajpal and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-02-02 with total page 484 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The world population is estimated to reach to more than 10 billion by the year 2050. These projections pose a challenging situation for the agricultural scientists to increase crops productivity to meet the growing food demands. The unavailability and/or inaccessibility to appropriate gene pools with desired traits required to carry out genetic improvement of various crop species make this task formidable for the plant breeders. Incidentally, most of the desired genes reside in the wild genetic relatives of the crop species. Therefore, exploration and characterization of wild genetic resources of important crop species is vital for the efficient utilization of these gene pools for sustainable genetic improvements to assure food security. Further, understanding the myriad complexities of genic and genomic interactions among species, more particularly of wild relatives of crop species and/or phylogenetically distant germplasm, can provide the necessary inputs to increase the effectiveness of genetic improvement through traditional and/or genetic engineering methods. This book provides comprehensive and latest insights on the evolutionary genesis of diversity, access and its utilization in the evolution of various crop species. A comprehensive account of various crops, origin, exploitation of the primary, secondary and tertiary gene pools through breeding, biosystematical, cytogenetical and molecular phylogenetical relationships, and genetic enhancement through biotechnological interventions among others have been provided as the necessary underpinnings to consolidate information on the effective and sustainable utilization of the related genetic resources. The book stresses upon the importance of wild germplasm exploration, characterization and exploitation in the assimilation of important crop species. The book is especially intended for students and scientists working on the genetic improvement of crop species. Plant Breeders, Geneticists, Taxonomists, Molecular Biologists and Plant Biotechnologists working on crop species are going to find this book very useful.
Download or read book Fugitives and Refugees written by Chuck Palahniuk and published by Random House. This book was released on 2010-10-31 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Want to know where Chuck Palahniuk's tonsils currently reside? Been looking for a naked mannequin to hide in your kitchen cabinets? What goes on at the Scum Center? How do you get to the Apocalypse Cafe? In the closest thing he may ever write to an autobiography, Chuck Palahniuk provides answers to all these questions and more as he takes you through the streets, sewers, and local haunts of Portland, Oregon. According to Katherine Dunn, author of the cult classic Geek Love, Portland is the home of America's "fugitives and refugees." Get to know these folks, the "most cracked of the crackpots," as Palahniuk calls them, and come along with him on an adventure through the parts of Portland you might not otherwise believe actually exist. Here are strange personal museums, weird annual events, and ghost stories. Tour the tunnels under downtown Portland. Visit swingers' sex clubs, gay and straight. See Frances Gabe's famous 1940s Self-Cleaning House. Look into strange local customs like the I-Tit-a-Rod Race and the Santa Rampage. Learn how to talk like a local in a quick vocabulary lesson. Get to know, I mean really get to know, the animals at the Portland zoo. Oh, the list goes on and on.
