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Book Untamed Shore

    Book Details:
  • Author : Silvia Moreno-Garcia
  • Publisher : Polis Books
  • Release : 2020-02-11
  • ISBN : 1951709004
  • Pages : 279 pages

Download or read book Untamed Shore written by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and published by Polis Books. This book was released on 2020-02-11 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the New York Times bestselling author of MEXICAN GOTHIC and GODS OF JADE AND SHADOW, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, comes the 2021 International Latino Book Award medal-winning UNTAMED SHORE, a coming-of-age story set in Mexico which quickly turns dark when a young woman meets three enigmatic tourists. Baja California, 1979. Viridiana spends her days watching the dead sharks piled beside the seashore, as the fishermen pull their nets. There is nothing else to do, nothing else to watch, under the harsh sun. She’s bored. Terribly bored. Yet her head is filled with dreams of Hollywood films, of romance, of a future beyond the drab town where her only option is to marry and have children. Three wealthy American tourists arrive for the summer, and Viridiana is magnetized. She immediately becomes entwined in the glamorous foreigners’ lives. They offer excitement, and perhaps an escape from the promise of a humdrum future. When one of them dies, Viridiana lies to protect her friends. Soon enough, someone’s asking questions, and Viridiana has some of her own about the identity of her new acquaintances. Sharks may be dangerous, but there are worse predators nearby, ready to devour a naïve young woman who is quickly being tangled in a web of deceit.

Book Untamed Shore

    Book Details:
  • Author : Silvia Moreno-Garcia
  • Publisher : Del Rey
  • Release : 2023-09-19
  • ISBN : 0593600517
  • Pages : 289 pages

Download or read book Untamed Shore written by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and published by Del Rey. This book was released on 2023-09-19 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this dark coming-of-age noir, a “Patricia Highsmith-like tale of grifts and con artists” (Crime Time), a young woman becomes embroiled in a web of lies and deceit—with potentially deadly consequences—from the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was the Night "Untamed Shore is a fever dream of a thriller, a coming-of-age tale set amidst disturbing and dangerous circumstances."—Book Page Baja California, 1979: Viridiana spends her days under the harsh sun, watching the fishermen pulling in their nets and the dead sharks piled beside the seashore. Her head is filled with dreams of romance, travel, and a future beyond this drab town where her only option is to marry and have children. When a wealthy American writer arrives with his wife and brother-in-law, Viridiana jumps at the offer of a job as his assistant, and she’s soon entangled in the glamorous foreigners’ lives. They offer excitement, and perhaps an escape from her humdrum existence. When one of them dies, Viridiana, eager to protect her new friends, lies—but soon enough, someone’s asking questions. It’s not long before Viridiana has questions of her own about the identities of her new acquaintances. Sharks may be dangerous, but there are worse predators nearby, ready to devour a naïve young woman unwittingly entangled in a net of deceit.

Book The Green Shore

    Book Details:
  • Author : Natalie Bakopoulos
  • Publisher : Simon and Schuster
  • Release : 2013-06-18
  • ISBN : 1451633947
  • Pages : 369 pages

Download or read book The Green Shore written by Natalie Bakopoulos and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-06-18 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Depicts the 1967 Greek military coup and its aftermath as experienced by four family members--Sophie, a French literature student; her widowed mother, Eleni; Sophie's uncle Mihalis, an outspoken poet; and Sophie's younger sister, Anna.

Book Certain Dark Things

    Book Details:
  • Author : Silvia Moreno-Garcia
  • Publisher : Tor Nightfire
  • Release : 2021-09-07
  • ISBN : 1250785596
  • Pages : 352 pages

Download or read book Certain Dark Things written by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and published by Tor Nightfire. This book was released on 2021-09-07 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Silvia Moreno-Garcia, the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic, comes Certain Dark Things, a pulse-pounding neo-noir that reimagines vampire lore. Welcome to Mexico City, an oasis in a sea of vampires. Domingo, a lonely garbage-collecting street kid, is just trying to survive its heavily policed streets when a jaded vampire on the run swoops into his life. Atl, the descendant of Aztec blood drinkers, is smart, beautiful, and dangerous. Domingo is mesmerized. Atl needs to quickly escape the city, far from the rival narco-vampire clan relentlessly pursuing her. Her plan doesn’t include Domingo, but little by little, Atl finds herself warming up to the scrappy young man and his undeniable charm. As the trail of corpses stretches behind her, local cops and crime bosses both start closing in. Vampires, humans, cops, and criminals collide in the dark streets of Mexico City. Do Atl and Domingo even stand a chance of making it out alive? Or will the city devour them all? At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Book The Outlaw Ocean

    Book Details:
  • Author : Ian Urbina
  • Publisher : Vintage
  • Release : 2019-08-20
  • ISBN : 0451492951
  • Pages : 627 pages

Download or read book The Outlaw Ocean written by Ian Urbina and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2019-08-20 with total page 627 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A riveting, adrenaline-fueled tour of a vast, lawless, and rampantly criminal world that few have ever seen: the high seas. There are few remaining frontiers on our planet. But perhaps the wildest, and least understood, are the world's oceans: too big to police, and under no clear international authority, these immense regions of treacherous water play host to rampant criminality and exploitation. Traffickers and smugglers, pirates and mercenaries, wreck thieves and repo men, vigilante conservationists and elusive poachers, seabound abortion providers, clandestine oil-dumpers, shackled slaves and cast-adrift stowaways—drawing on five years of perilous and intrepid reporting, often hundreds of miles from shore, Ian Urbina introduces us to the inhabitants of this hidden world. Through their stories of astonishing courage and brutality, survival and tragedy, he uncovers a globe-spanning network of crime and exploitation that emanates from the fishing, oil, and shipping industries, and on which the world's economies rely. Both a gripping adventure story and a stunning exposé, this unique work of reportage brings fully into view for the first time the disturbing reality of a floating world that connects us all, a place where anyone can do anything because no one is watching.

Book The Beautiful Ones

    Book Details:
  • Author : Silvia Moreno-Garcia
  • Publisher : Tor Books
  • Release : 2021-04-27
  • ISBN : 125078557X
  • Pages : 352 pages

Download or read book The Beautiful Ones written by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and published by Tor Books. This book was released on 2021-04-27 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic comes a sweeping romance with a dash of magic. They are the Beautiful Ones, Loisail’s most notable socialites, and this spring is Nina’s chance to join their ranks, courtesy of her well-connected cousin and his calculating wife. But the Grand Season has just begun, and already Nina’s debut has gone disastrously awry. She has always struggled to control her telekinesis—neighbors call her the Witch of Oldhouse—and the haphazard manifestations of her powers make her the subject of malicious gossip. When entertainer Hector Auvray arrives to town, Nina is dazzled. A telekinetic like her, he has traveled the world performing his talents for admiring audiences. He sees Nina not as a witch, but ripe with potential to master her power under his tutelage. With Hector’s help, Nina’s talent blossoms, as does her love for him. But great romances are for fairytales, and Hector is hiding a truth from Nina — and himself—that threatens to end their courtship before it truly begins. Silvia Moreno-Garcia's The Beautiful Ones is a charming tale of love and betrayal, and the struggle between conformity and passion, set in a world where scandal is a razor-sharp weapon. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Book Velvet Was the Night

    Book Details:
  • Author : Silvia Moreno-Garcia
  • Publisher : Del Rey
  • Release : 2021-08-17
  • ISBN : 0593356837
  • Pages : 304 pages

Download or read book Velvet Was the Night written by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and published by Del Rey. This book was released on 2021-08-17 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: GOOD MORNING AMERICA BUZZ PICK • From the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic comes a simmering historical noir about a daydreaming secretary, a lonesome enforcer, and the mystery of the missing woman they’re both desperate to find. ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, NPR, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, New York Public Library, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, BookPage, She Reads, Library Journal • “An adrenalized, darkly romantic journey.”—The Washington Post Mexico in the 1970s is a dangerous country, even for Maite, a secretary who spends her life seeking the romance found in cheap comic books and ignoring the activists protesting around the city. When her next-door neighbor, the beautiful art student Leonora, disappears under suspicious circumstances, Maite finds herself searching for the missing woman—and journeying deeper into Leonora’s secret life of student radicals and dissidents. Mexico in the 1970s is a politically fraught land, even for Elvis, a goon with a passion for rock ’n’ roll who knows more about kidney-smashing than intrigue. When Elvis is assigned to find Leonora, he begins a blood-soaked search for the woman—and his soul. Swirling in parallel trajectories, Maite and Elvis attempt to discover the truth behind Leonora’s disappearance, encountering hitmen, government agents, and Russian spies. Because Mexico in the 1970s is a noir, where life is cheap and the price of truth is high.

Book The Daughter of Doctor Moreau

Download or read book The Daughter of Doctor Moreau written by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and published by Del Rey. This book was released on 2022-07-19 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the bestselling author of Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was the Night comes a lavish historical drama reimagining of The Island of Doctor Moreau set against the backdrop of nineteenth-century Mexico. “This is historical science fiction at its best: a dreamy reimagining of a classic story with vivid descriptions of lush jungles and feminist themes. Some light romance threads through the heavier ethical questions concerning humanity.”—Library Journal (starred review) “The imagination of Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a thing of wonder, restless and romantic, fearless in the face of genre, embracing the polarities of storytelling—the sleek and the bizarre, wild passions and deep hatreds—with cool equanimity.”—The New York Times (Editors’ Choice) ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, Time, NPR, Polygon, Tordotcom, Paste, CrimeReads, Booklist Carlota Moreau: A young woman growing up on a distant and luxuriant estate, safe from the conflict and strife of the Yucatán peninsula. The only daughter of a researcher who is either a genius or a madman. Montgomery Laughton: A melancholic overseer with a tragic past and a propensity for alcohol. An outcast who assists Dr. Moreau with his experiments, which are financed by the Lizaldes, owners of magnificent haciendas and plentiful coffers. The hybrids: The fruits of the doctor’s labor, destined to blindly obey their creator and remain in the shadows. A motley group of part human, part animal monstrosities. All of them live in a perfectly balanced and static world, which is jolted by the abrupt arrival of Eduardo Lizalde, the charming and careless son of Dr. Moreau’s patron, who will unwittingly begin a dangerous chain reaction. For Moreau keeps secrets, Carlota has questions, and, in the sweltering heat of the jungle, passions may ignite. The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is both a dazzling historical novel and a daring science fiction journey.

Book Signal to Noise

    Book Details:
  • Author : Silvia Moreno-Garcia
  • Publisher : Rebellion Publishing Ltd
  • Release : 2022-09-13
  • ISBN : 1786186454
  • Pages : 318 pages

Download or read book Signal to Noise written by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and published by Rebellion Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2022-09-13 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mexico City, 1988. Long before iTunes or MP3s, you said "I love you" with a mixtape. Meche, awkward and fifteen, discovers how to cast spells using music, and with her friends Sebastian and Daniela will piece together their broken families, and even find love... Two decades after abandoning the metropolis, Meche returns for her estranged father's funeral, reviving memories from her childhood she thought she buried a long time ago. What really happened back then? Is there any magic left?

Book Cottages and Mansions of the Jersey Shore

Download or read book Cottages and Mansions of the Jersey Shore written by Caroline Seebohm and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2007 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this delightful collection of personal accounts, historical anecdotes, and gorgeous photographs, Seebohm and Cook cast a fresh eye on the array of quaint cottages, quirky bungalows, and splendid mansions that generations have chosen as their summer homes.

Book Mexican Gothic

    Book Details:
  • Author : Silvia Moreno-Garcia
  • Publisher : Del Rey
  • Release : 2020-06-30
  • ISBN : 0525620796
  • Pages : 361 pages

Download or read book Mexican Gothic written by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and published by Del Rey. This book was released on 2020-06-30 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “It’s Lovecraft meets the Brontës in Latin America, and after a slow-burn start Mexican Gothic gets seriously weird.”—The Guardian IN DEVELOPMENT AS A HULU ORIGINAL LIMITED SERIES PRODUCED BY KELLY RIPA AND MARK CONSUELOS • ONE OF TIME’S 100 BEST MYSTERY AND THRILLER BOOKS OF ALL TIME • WINNER OF THE LOCUS AWARD • NOMINATED FOR THE BRAM STOKER AWARD ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, NPR, The Washington Post, Tordotcom, Marie Claire, Vox, Mashable, Men’s Health, Library Journal, Book Riot, LibraryReads An isolated mansion. A chillingly charismatic aristocrat. And a brave socialite drawn to expose their treacherous secrets. . . . From the author of Gods of Jade and Shadow comes “a terrifying twist on classic gothic horror” (Kirkus Reviews) set in glamorous 1950s Mexico. After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find—her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region. Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom. Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness. And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind. “It’s as if a supernatural power compels us to turn the pages of the gripping Mexican Gothic.”—The Washington Post “Mexican Gothic is the perfect summer horror read, and marks Moreno-Garcia with her hypnotic and engaging prose as one of the genre’s most exciting talents.”—Nerdist “A period thriller as rich in suspense as it is in lush ’50s atmosphere.”—Entertainment Weekly

Book Dawn on a Distant Shore

Download or read book Dawn on a Distant Shore written by Sara Donati and published by Bantam. This book was released on 2010-08-25 with total page 674 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sara Donati's debut novel, Into the Wilderness, was hailed as "epic in scope, emotionally intense...an enrapturing, grand adventure" (BookPage) and "a captivating saga...definitely the romance of the year when it comes to transcending genre boundaries" (Booklist). Author Diana Gabaldon called it "one of those rare stories that let you breathe the air of another time, and leave your footprints on the snow of a wild, strange place." Now, in her second novel, this award-winning master storyteller once again blends fact and fiction, and re-creates her beloved characters from Into the Wilderness in an eloquent, enthralling tale of romance and adventure. Elizabeth and Nathaniel Bonner have settled into their life together at the edge of the New-York wilderness in the winter of 1794 when Elizabeth gives birth to healthy twins. But soon the events in Canada draw Nathaniel far away from his new family. Word has reached them that Nathaniel's father has been arrested by crown officials in British Canada. Nathaniel reluctantly leaves Hidden Wolf Mountain to set out for the distant city, determined to see his father freed. Instead Nathaniel is imprisoned and finds himself in imminent danger of being hanged as an American spy. In a desperate bid to save her husband, Elizabeth bundles her infants and sets out on the long trek to Montreal. Accompanied by her stepdaughter, Hannah, their wise friend Curiosity Freeman, and Runs-from-Bears, a Mohawk warrior and lifelong friend of Nathaniel's, Elizabeth journeys through the snowy wilderness and across treacherous waterways. But she soon discovers that freeing Nathaniel will take every ounce of her courage and inventiveness. It is a struggle that threatens her with the loss of what she loves most: her children. Torn apart, the Bonners must embark on yet another perilous voyage...this time all the way across the ocean to the heart of Scotland, where a wealthy earl claims kinship with Nathaniel's father, Hawkeye. In his heart, the Mahican tribe of Hawkeye's youth is the truest kin he will ever know, just as Nathaniel will always remain loyal to the Mohawk nation. But with this journey a whole new world opens up to Nathaniel and Elizabeth--and a destiny they could never have imagined awaits them.... A sweeping epic of romance and adventure, Dawn on a Distant Shore establishes Sara Donati as one of today's most gifted storytellers. With well-drawn characters and an evocative love story that is intricately woven into the rich history of our nation's past, this extraordinary novel will enthrall readers like few others--and sweep them away to a whole other time and place. A sweeping epic of romance and adventure, Dawn on a Distant Shore establishes Sara Donati as one of today's most gifted storytellers. With well-drawn characters and an evocative love story that is intricately woven into the history of our nation's past, this extraordinary novel will enthrall readers like few others--and sweep them away to a whole other time and place. -->

Book Gods of Jade and Shadow

    Book Details:
  • Author : Silvia Moreno-Garcia
  • Publisher : Del Rey
  • Release : 2019-07-23
  • ISBN : 0525620761
  • Pages : 384 pages

Download or read book Gods of Jade and Shadow written by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and published by Del Rey. This book was released on 2019-07-23 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Mayan god of death sends a young woman on a harrowing, life-changing journey in this dark, one-of-a-kind fairy tale inspired by Mexican folklore. “A spellbinding fairy tale rooted in Mexican mythology . . . Gods of Jade and Shadow is a magical fairy tale about identity, freedom, and love, and it's like nothing you've read before.”—Bustle NEBULA AWARD FINALIST • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR • Tordotcom • The New York Public Library • BookRiot The Jazz Age is in full swing, but Casiopea Tun is too busy cleaning the floors of her wealthy grandfather’s house to listen to any fast tunes. Nevertheless, she dreams of a life far from her dusty small town in southern Mexico. A life she can call her own. Yet this new life seems as distant as the stars, until the day she finds a curious wooden box in her grandfather’s room. She opens it—and accidentally frees the spirit of the Mayan god of death, who requests her help in recovering his throne from his treacherous brother. Failure will mean Casiopea’s demise, but success could make her dreams come true. In the company of the strangely alluring god and armed with her wits, Casiopea begins an adventure that will take her on a cross-country odyssey from the jungles of Yucatán to the bright lights of Mexico City—and deep into the darkness of the Mayan underworld. Praise for Gods of Jade and Shadow “A dark, dazzling fairy tale . . . a whirlwind tour of a 1920s Mexico vivid with jazz, the memories of revolution, and gods, demons, and magic.”—NPR “Snappy dialog, stellar worldbuilding, lyrical prose, and a slow-burn romance make this a standout. . . . Purchase where Naomi Novik, Nnedi Okorafor, and N. K. Jemisin are popular.”—Library Journal (starred review) “A magical novel of duality, tradition, and change . . . Moreno-Garcia’s seamless blend of mythology and history provides a ripe setting for Casiopea’s stellar journey of self-discovery, which culminates in a dramatic denouement. Readers will gladly immerse themselves in Moreno-Garcia’s rich and complex tale of desperate hopes and complicated relationships.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Book Prime Meridian

    Book Details:
  • Author : Silvia Moreno-Garcia
  • Publisher : Jabberwocky Literary Agency, Inc.
  • Release : 2018-07-10
  • ISBN : 192799022X
  • Pages : 106 pages

Download or read book Prime Meridian written by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and published by Jabberwocky Literary Agency, Inc.. This book was released on 2018-07-10 with total page 106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the bestselling author of Mexican Gothic comes a novella about the price of dreams in a ravaged near-future. “A subtle and powerful tale of Mars, movies, and Mexico City which stands amongst the best novellas of the past few years.” —Jonathan Strahan, Locus Amelia dreams of Mars. The Mars of the movies and the imagination, an endless bastion of opportunities for a colonist with some guts. But she’s trapped in Mexico City, enduring the drudgery of an unkind metropolis, working as a rent-a-friend, selling her blood to old folks with money who hope to rejuvenate themselves with it, enacting a fractured love story. And yet there’s Mars, at the edge of the silver screen, of life.

Book By Force Alone

    Book Details:
  • Author : Lavie Tidhar
  • Publisher : Tor Books
  • Release : 2020-08-11
  • ISBN : 1250753473
  • Pages : 400 pages

Download or read book By Force Alone written by Lavie Tidhar and published by Tor Books. This book was released on 2020-08-11 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A retelling of Arthurian myth from World Fantasy Award-winner Lavie Tidhar, By Force Alone. Everyone thinks they know the story of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table. The fact is they don't know sh*t. Arthur? An over-promoted gangster. Merlin? An eldritch parasite. Excalibur? A shady deal with a watery arms dealer. Britain? A clogged sewer that Rome abandoned just as soon as it could. A savage and cutting epic fantasy, equally poetic and profane, By Force Alone is a magical adventure and a subversive masterwork. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Book Looking for Miss America

Download or read book Looking for Miss America written by Margot Mifflin and published by Catapult. This book was released on 2020-08-04 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From an author praised for writing “delicious social history” (Dwight Garner, The New York Times) comes a lively account of memorable Miss America contestants, protests, and scandals—and how the pageant, nearing its one hundredth anniversary, serves as an unintended indicator of feminist progress Looking for Miss America is a fast–paced narrative history of a curious and contradictory institution. From its start in 1921 as an Atlantic City tourist draw to its current incarnation as a scholarship competition, the pageant has indexed women’s status during periods of social change—the post–suffrage 1920s, the Eisenhower 1950s, the #MeToo era. This ever–changing institution has been shaped by war, evangelism, the rise of television and reality TV, and, significantly, by contestants who confounded expectations. Spotlighting individuals, from Yolande Betbeze, whose refusal to pose in swimsuits led an angry sponsor to launch the rival Miss USA contest, to the first black winner, Vanessa Williams, who received death threats and was protected by sharpshooters in her hometown parade, Margot Mifflin shows how women made hard bargains even as they used the pageant for economic advancement. The pageant’s history includes, crucially, those it excluded; the notorious Rule Seven, which required contestants to be “of the white race,” was retired in the 1950s, but no women of color were crowned until the 1980s. In rigorously researched, vibrant chapters that unpack each decade of the pageant, Looking for Miss America examines the heady blend of capitalism, patriotism, class anxiety, and cultural mythology that has fueled this American ritual.

Book Wild Coast

    Book Details:
  • Author : John Gimlette
  • Publisher : Vintage
  • Release : 2011-06-21
  • ISBN : 0307596656
  • Pages : 452 pages

Download or read book Wild Coast written by John Gimlette and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2011-06-21 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana are among the least-known places in South America: nine hundred miles of muddy coastline giving way to a forest so dense that even today there are virtually no roads through it; a string of rickety coastal towns situated between the mouths of the Orinoco and Amazon Rivers, where living is so difficult that as many Guianese live abroad as in their homelands; an interior of watery, green anarchy where border disputes are often based on ancient Elizabethan maps, where flora and fauna are still being discovered, where thousands of rivers remain mostly impassable. And under the lens of John Gimlette—brilliantly offbeat, irreverent, and canny—these three small countries are among the most wildly intriguing places on earth. On an expedition that will last three months, he takes us deep into a remarkable world of swamp and jungle, from the hideouts of runaway slaves to the vegetation-strangled remnants of penal colonies and forts, from “Little Paris” to a settlement built around a satellite launch pad. He recounts the complicated, often surprisingly bloody, history of the region—including the infamous 1978 cult suicide at Jonestown—and introduces us to its inhabitants: from the world’s largest ants to fluorescent purple frogs to head-crushing jaguars; from indigenous tribes who still live by sorcery to descendants of African slaves, Dutch conquerors, Hmong refugees, Irish adventurers, and Scottish outlaws; from high-tech pirates to hapless pioneers for whom this stunning, strangely beautiful world (“a sort of X-rated Garden of Eden”) has become home by choice or by force. In Wild Coast, John Gimlette guides us through a fabulously entertaining, eye-opening—and sometimes jaw-dropping—journey.