Modern Japanese Short Stories is a remarkable collection of Japanese stories from the pioneers of contemporary Japanese literature. This volume's twenty-five stories by as many authors display a wide range of style and subject matter--offering a revealing picture of modern Japanese culture and society. The stories in this anthology include: "Tattoo" by Junichiro Tanizaki--a large spider tattooed on the back of a young woman results in unexpected changes "Autumn Mountain" by Ryunosuke Akutagawa--vivid memories of a beautiful painting leads a man to wonder if the it ever actually existed "The Priest and His Love" by Yukio Mishima--a Buddhist priest finds his path to enlightenment challenged after falling in love "The Moon on the Water" by Nobel Prize winner Yasunari Kawabata--a young woman who cared for her ailing first husband through most of their marriage regrets remarrying after his death Featuring a new foreword by Japanese literary scholar Seiji Lippit and striking woodcut illustrations by Masakazu Kuwata, the stories are translated by the editor, Ivan Morris, and Edward Seidensticker, George Saito, and Geoffery Sargent. This collection of short stories shows why Japanese literature is so highly valued today--it teaches not only about Japan, but about the human condition and the possibilities of art.

Elisa - orphaned as a child, raised by a 'fallen woman', fed by fairy tales - has lived in an outlandish imaginary world for years. When her guardian dies, she feels compelled to confront her family's tortured and dramatic past, weaving the tale of her mother and grandmother through a history of intrigue, treachery, deception and desire. But as her saga of three generations of Sicilian women proceeds, it becomes something else entirely, taking in a whole legacy of oppression and injustice. By turns flamboyant and intense, raging and funny, Lies and Sorcery is a celebration of the female imagination, and the power of storytelling itself. First published in 1948, Elsa Morante's debut novel won the Viareggio Prize and earned her the lasting admiration of generations of writers from Italo Calvino and Natalia Ginzburg to Elena Ferrante. Translated by Jenny McPhee

The author of "The Comic Book Killer" offers up twelve tales of mystery, magic, and grouchiness - served with a liberal dash of sarcasm and cynicism. A woman's birthday celebration becomes a prelude to murder; an absinthe-minded author seeks inspiration from a bottle; a rare volume could destroy the love/hate relationship of two book dealers; an interplanetary romance is threatened by the untimely intervention of the Scorpion Men of Venus; and that's just the beginning! These stories leap from planet to planet, down dark avenues of hatred, and curl up in cozy nostalgic places.Stories include: "Happy Birthday, Birthday Girl!"; "The Green Fairy"; "Sisoh Promatem"; "Uncle Elmer"; "Greetings from Comrade Kim"; "Night Lands Dream"; "The Salamanca Encounter"; "Scorpion Men of Venus"; "Dead of Winter"; and from Rigel science fiction magazine, three "Tales of the Tin Can Worlds": "Lux Was Dead Right"; "Transtemporal Creatures Unlimited"; and "Joe Nieman's Knees.

The squidgerino squelcher, created by Bembel Rudzuk, the wizard, annoys the princess.

A beguiling fable about a summer holiday in the Swedish countryside that transforms into a provocative parable about oppression and the evil awaiting Europe as the Nazis came to power. Kurt Tucholsky was a journalist, satirist, feuilletonist, polemicist, and poet, all in all one of the most versatile, provocative, and winning writers of the Weimar Republic; Castle Gripsholm , a short novel about an enchanted summer, which came out in 1931, is the best and most beloved of his works. The book begins with correspondence: Tucholsky's publisher wants a short novel, light, funny, otherwise about whatever Tucholsky wants; Tucholsky is perfectly happy to oblige, presuming the money is right. A deal is eventually struck and the story is off: about Peter, a writer, and his girlfriend Lydia (aka the Princess), and a summer vacation from the hurly-burly of Berlin. Peter and the Princess have three weeks at their disposal, and they have rented a small house attached to a historic castle in Sweden, with its long days and white nights, three weeks for swimming and walking and sex and talking and visits with Peter's buddy Karlchen and with Billy, who is the Princess's best friend. It is perfect, until they meet a weeping girl fleeing the cruel headmistress of a home for children. The vacationers decide they must free the girl and send her back to her mother in Switzerland, which brings about an encounter with authority that casts a worrying shadow over their radiant summer idyll. Soon they must go back to Germany. What kind of fairy tale are they living in?

From national bestselling author Nick McDonell, The Council of Animals is a captivating fable for humans of all ages—dreamers and cynics alike—who believe (if nothing else) in the power of timeless storytelling. “‘Now,’ continued the cat, ‘there is nothing more difficult than changing an animal’s mind. But I will say, in case I can change yours: humans are more useful to us outside our bellies than in.’” Perhaps. After The Calamity, the animals thought the humans had managed to do themselves in. But, it turns out, a few are cowering in makeshift villages. So the animals—among them a cat, a dog, a crow, a baboon, a horse, and a bear—have convened to debate whether to help the last human stragglers . . . or to eat them. Rest assured, there is a happy ending. Sort of. Featuring illustrations by Steven Tabbutt

In his unique and lyrical style, Mario Levi captures the city of Istanbul and its storied past with a rare intimacy and humor. A major work of contemporary Turkish literature, Istanbul Was a Fairy Tale tells the stories of three generations of a Jewish family from the 1920s to the 1980s. Istanbul is their only home, and yet they live in a state of alienation, isolating themselves from the world around them. As witness, observer, and protagonist, the narrator—at once inside and outside of his story—records their many tales, as well as those of their friends and neighbors, creating an expansive mosaic of characters, each doing their best to survive the twentieth century.

"I am Orpheus, the maker of songs. Great Apollo came to me often and instructed me in the art of melody so that what came from my lyre could touch the heart even of a stone, and when I went to my mother Calliope in her cave she taught me the secrets of making verses that would hold people entranced the way a magical spell might hold them. And so music has flowed from me all my life as though from an inextinguishable fountain, which is to say that there has been music in the world since the beginning of time and that music will endure to time's end, and beyond it to the moment of beginning again; and so it was that a shaggy-haired Thracian princeling entered into his role in the universe." Gifted with the golden lyre, Orpheus--rumored son of the god Apollo, and yet recognized as the heir of Oeagros, King of Thrace--tells us of the tale of his life as he writes songs throughout the known world. From his role as teacher and spiritual adviser to the Ciconian people, to the profound love and loss of his beloved Eurydice, to his quest with Jason and the Argonauts to claim the Golden Fleece, Orpheus' songs of his life experiences help him sculpt a world that, without his music, would be devoid of the passion and purpose only a muse of his power could provide. Aware of his own fate before he sets out, Orpheus nevertheless continues on the path pre-ordained for him, to discover if knowing your future prevents you from experiencing your present with a sense of wonder and immediacy that can allow Orpheus to connect with the lives around him in order to fulfill his destiny.

Here available in English for the first time, in a splendid translation by Brian Stableford, The Mirror of Legends, one of the important collections of French Symbolist Bernard Lazare (1865-1903), offers a melange of stories based on Greek, mythological and Biblical sources. In prose coiling as effusively as the smoke from a swinging censer, the esoteric lore of centuries is paraded before the reader in this series of incantatory poem-like tales that form an eclectic myth-cycle of their own. A mixture of erudition, heretical speculation and heightened lyricism, The Mirror of Legends presents a unique artistic statement of metaphysics, aesthetics and ethics.

Paperback. Pub Date: October 2008 Pages: 256 Publisher: HARVILL SECKER Marta is raised by her grandmother in her house in Trieste. a safe haven of stories. Books and enchantment She knows that her mother died when she was young and she believes that her father is a Turkish prince. But. as she grows older and this fairy tale disintegrates. Marta feels only anger towards her grandmother for withholding information about her parents. When her grandmother dies. Marta is alone in the world. One day . in the dusty attic. she finds a box belonging to her mother which may help to uncover her own past. With clues found in her mother's journal and a worn photograph. Marta decides to track down her father. who she believes may still be alive . Feeling the need to escape her grandmother's house. which is populated by secrets. Marta embarks on a journey to Israel. seeking what is left of...

With the help of his friends, a kind straw scarecrow is able to prove he is scarier than Toho the Terrible.

The new wizard tries to solve all the town's problems, but carelessness with his own magic tears creates a tragedy instead.

Product Description The sequel to the bestselling Angel is an explosive tale of love, lies and fame, set in the glitzy world of footballers’ wives and girlfriends. Angel Summer looks as if she has found her happy ever after. She’s married to the love of her life, sexy footballer Cal, they have a beautiful baby girl, and Angel is Britain’s top glamour model. But all is not as it seems and there is heartache in store. Angel’s worst nightmares come to life when an old flame of Cal’s comes back on the scene and suddenly Angel is fighting to save her marriage and herself . . . From the Trade Paperback edition. From the Inside Flap An explosive and highly charged tale of love, lies and celebrity. Angel Summer looks as if she has found her happy ever after. She’s married to the love of her life, sexy footballer Cal, they have a beautiful baby girl and Angel is Britain’s top glamour model. But all is not as it seems and there is heartache in store. When Cal is transferred to AC Milan, instead of embracing the WAG lifestyle of designer shopping and pampering, Angel feels isolated being so far away from her family and friends. Surrounded by beautiful people, will Angel and Cal pull together or will they turn elsewhere to seek comfort? Things only get more complicated for Angel when an old flame of Cal's comes back on the scene and suddenly Angel is fighting to save her marriage, and herself.. . From the Back Cover Praise for Angel: 'The Perfect sexy summer read' heat 'A page turner... it is brilliant' Evening Standard 'The perfect post-modern fairy tale' Glamour Praise for Crystal: 'Peppered with cutting asides and a directness you can only imagine coming from Katie Price, it's a fun, blisteringly paced yet fluffy novel' Cosmopolitan 'Crystal is charming. Gloriously infectious' Evening Standard About the Author Katie Price is Jordan, one of the UK's top celebrities. She is an ex-glamour model, TV presenter, author, singer, mother and wife. She currently lives in Sussex with her husband Peter Andre, her sons and her daughter.

"Fantasy once again, deftly and convincingly -- as only Robert Nathan can do it -- handled, with a satiric twist now and again, and a pull at the heartstrings. He has told the story of a failure whose one escape into a dream world comes through the imposed background of the ship he has built for himself in his own drab front yard. When the wife who demands results, sells it as a hot dog stand, he takes one last stand -- and Fate plays into his hands and launches the ship on the high road of adventure, southward bound. He picks up a "crew" as rudderless as himself, and they make their way against insuperable obstacles until "the law" catches up with them. But -- he has won something as a bulwark for the future. There is pathos and humor and that indefinable tug at the love of makebelieve that gave One more spring its impetus. It lacks the immediate application to current problems -- but it has the same adult fairy tale quality."--Kirkus.

Bluebirds by Catulle Mendès (1841-1909), here delightfully translated for the first time into English by Brian Stableford, is fascinating, not only because it illustrates a particular evolution within the pattern of the author's own works, but because that pattern reflects a more general one associated with the evolution from the French Romanticism of the first half of the nineteenth century to the Decadent and Symbolist Movements of the fin-de-siècle. Mendès was one of the key figures in the latter phases of that process of development, launching his literary career in the 1860s under the patronage of Théophile Gautier, whose daughter Judith he married--much against her father's wishes--in 1866, and then becoming a leading figure among the "Parnassians" who attempted a renewal and revivification of Romantic ideals, before he entered wholeheartedly into the Decadent Movement launched in the 1880s. The stories in the present collection extend over a linear spectrum, moving by degrees from the affected sentimentality of Romanticism to a darker and somewhat jaundiced world-view that illustrates the Decadent sensibility very well, although all the stories were written in advance of the enormous fashionability that the sensibility in question achieved in the late 1880s.