We're living a national ideology that's invisible to us because we're inside it." "We're living a national ideology that's invisible to us because we're inside it." At the outset of his career E. L. Doctorow told Paul Levine, "History written by historians is clearly insufficient." Doctorow's novels carry out that conviction by imagining the great moments of American history--the Old West, the gilded age, the Depression, the cold war--as backdrops for tales of excruciating moral pain and injustice in America. In Conversations with E. L. Doctorow Christopher D. Morris has gathered over twenty of the most revelatory interviews with the acclaimed author of Ragtime, World's Fair, Billy Bathgate, The Book of Daniel, and other novels, plays, and short stories. Whatever the setting or time period, Doctorow's characters spark an unparalleled urgency in the novelist's recreations of history. In his work the American dream and the values his characters try to live by turn to madness and ashes. Within this collection Doctorow explores the themes of his work not only in the contexts of national and literary history but also in terms of disturbing trends in contemporary American culture. Talking about style, Doctorow discusses his experiments with shifting points of view and unreliable narrators as part of the modernist heritage to which readers have become accustomed. But he stresses that these techniques are always subordinate to the telling of a good story and the creation of memorable characters. "My portrait of J. P. Morgan in Ragtime is truer to the man's soul and the substance of his life than his authorized biography," he says. Doctorow's critical and popular success comes from the creation and re-creation of such great characters and the telling of captivating stories in which the writer serves as an independent witness to both the ideals and the corruptions that have driven our history. Christopher D. Morris has been the Charles A. Dana Professor of English at Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont, since 1996. He is also the author of Models of Misrepresentation: On the Fiction of E. L. Doctorow and regularly publishes in journals like The Ohio Review, Critique, and Film Criticism.

In this book, Dvir Abramovich brings together a batch of timeless classical Hebrew novels, short stories, and poems, and furnishes readers with commentaries and critical readings of each landmark work. The selection of seminal texts include masterpieces from Yehuda Amichai, Haim Gouri, Amos Oz, Dvorah Baron, Shaul Tchernichovsky, Chaim Nachman Bialik, Hanoch Bartov, Shulamit Hareven, and Aharon Megged. Each interpretative essay includes a bio-graphical overview of the author whose opus is explored. This collection will prove exceptionally useful for teachers who wish to introduce their students to the treasures of contemporary Israeli fiction and are searching for reflective analyses and searching insights. Guaranteed to ignite discussion and debate, this informative and entertaining volume, written in an accessible and lively style, will appeal to a general and academic audience and will tempt readers to read or re-read these great works.

Product description In this book, Dvir Abramovich brings together a batch of timeless classical Hebrew novels, short stories, and poems, and furnishes readers with commentaries and critical readings of each landmark work. The selection of seminal texts include masterpieces from Yehuda Amichai, Haim Gouri, Amos Oz, Dvorah Baron, Shaul Tchernichovsky, Chaim Nachman Bialik, Hanoch Bartov, Shulamit Hareven, and Aharon Megged. Each interpretative essay includes a bio-graphical overview of the author whose opus is explored. This collection will prove exceptionally useful for teachers who wish to introduce their students to the treasures of contemporary Israeli fiction and are searching for reflective analyses and searching insights. Guaranteed to ignite discussion and debate, this informative and entertaining volume, written in an accessible and lively style, will appeal to a general and academic audience and will tempt readers to read or re-read these great works. Review In Hebrew Classics: A Journey Through Israel's Timeless Fiction and Poetry Dvir Abramovich offers us an intimate and delightful tour through the pastures of Hebrew literature. A refreshing meeting awaits us with writers of various generations who had grown up in separate landscapes and some in the midst of diverse languages...One of the unique characteristics of the book is the choice of literary works that it deals with, free of the bonds of genre definitions. We are offered 'delectable meals' that include interpretive studies of poems and stories of various kinds. The common denominator for this selection is the presentation of texts as junctions of flavour and passion within the rich and fascinating history of modern Hebrew literature. This provides the reader with the ability to experience a bird's eye view of these creative works. This book is a tribute to Hebrew literature, written with love and with the wish to share this love. This is obvious both from the detailed and sensitive studies, and from the commendable descriptive, festive and elegant language. (Yigal Schwartz, Professor of Hebrew Literature and Head of Heksherim: The Research Center for Jewish and Israel Culture, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) Abramovich has done a scrupulous job in scrutinizing these key texts of contemporary Hebrew fiction. The care with which he sets them in their historical and cultural contexts should be instructive for all readers interested in Israel and its predicaments. (Robert Alter, Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature) The next best thing to reading modern Hebrew literature in the original is getting to know it through the eyes of a lover who is willing to share his passion. In Hebrew Classics: A Journey Through Israel's Timeless Fiction and Poetry Dvir Abramovich invites us to get to know its major figures and his introductions to their work make us eager to know them better. A true scholar can do no better. (Ruth Wisse, Martin Peretz Professor of Yiddish Literature and Professor of Comparative Literature) About the Author Dvir Abramovich (PhD University of Melbourne) is director of the University of Melbourne's Centre for Jewish History and Culture and a senior lecturer in Hebrew and Jewish Studies. He was editor of the Australian Journal of Jewish Studies for eight years and president of the Australian Association of Jewish Studies from 2006 to 2010. He has published widely in the area of Israeli and Jewish literature and is co-editor of the book Testifying to the Holocaust (2008) and author of Back to the Future: Israeli Literature of the 1980s and 1990 (2010).

"Chava Rosenfarb (1923-2011) was one of the most prominent Yiddish novelists of the second half of the twentieth century. Born in Poland in 1923, she survived the Lodz ghetto, Auschwitz, and Bergen-Belsen, immigrating to Canada in 1950 and settling in Montreal. There she wrote novels, poetry, short stories, plays, and essays, including The Tree of Life: A Trilogy of Life in the Lodz Ghetto, a seminal novel on the Holocaust. Confessions of a Yiddish Writer and Other Essays comprises thirteen personal and literary essays by Rosenfarb, ranging from autobiographical accounts of her childhood and experiences before and during the Holocaust to literary criticism that discusses the work of other Jewish writers. The collection also includes two travelogues, which recount a trip to Australia and another to Prague in 1993, the year it became the capital of the Czech Republic. While several of these essays appeared in the prestigious Yiddish literary journal Di goldene keyt, most were never translated. This book marks the first time that Rosenfarb's non-fiction writings have been presented together in English. A compilation of the memoir and diary excerpts that formed the basis of Rosenfarb's widely acclaimed fiction, Confessions of a Yiddish Writer and Other Essays deepens the reader's understanding of an incredible Yiddish woman and her experiences as a survivor in the post-Holocaust world. "--

A septuagenarian contract killer, a chronic hypochondriac, two zombie-creating comedians, a good Samaritan and a man called Barnaby whose holiday takes an unexpected turn. In these sleek and witty tales, described by Loaded as 'an excellent collection of dark, funny and bizarre short stories', Alexei Sayle's characters are vividly, wryly - and occasionally disturbingly - portrayed. Their voices, and the stories they have to tell will remain in the mind for a long, long time.

(Book). Velvel Pasternak, a noted ethnomusicologist and lecturer, has brought the joy of Hasidic music to audiences throughout North America and Israel. The three movements of this book feature Velvel's often-humorous retelling of his music projects with Hasidim, a short overview of their music's essence, and the songs with background stories and annotations. The 70-minute accompanying CD features music examples from the book.

A thoughtful and deeply personal book by master theatre-maker Peter Brook, described by the Independent as 'our greatest living theatre director'. In Tip of the Tongue, Peter Brook takes a charming, playful and wise look at topics such as the subtle, telling differences between French and English, and the many levels on which we can appreciate the works of Shakespeare. Brook also revisits his seminal concept of the 'empty space', considering how theatre – and the world – have changed over the span of his long and distinguished career. Threaded throughout with intimate and revealing stories from Brook's own life, Tip of the Tongue is a short but sparkling gift from one of the greatest artists of our time

In June, 2006, Picador launch "Picador Shots", a new series of pocket-sized books priced at GBP1. The "Shots" aim to promote the short story as well as the work of some Picador's greatest authors. They will be contemporarily packaged but ultimately disposable books that are the ideal literary alternative to a magazine. Matthew Kneale's "Powder" is to be one of the first "Picador Shots".One of the stories from his recent collection, "Small Crimes In An Age of Abundance", "Powder" is an effecting, darkly funny story about Peter, a middle of the road, solicitor, who lives in a suburban street in London. His kids are leaving home and he is finding it hard to keep up with the neighbours and his colleagues at work, until, one day on his local common he discovers a large bag with a mobile phone and hundreds of plastic bags full of cocaine inside. What Peter decides to do with this bag, a decision he makes in a split second, will change his life for ever. In "Powder" Matthew Kneale has vividly captured the life on an ordinary person as he struggles to survive and do the 'right thing', and, in the end, managing neither.

From one of the modern era's most influential and boldly experimental writers — a generous collection of poems, stories and plays — all dating from 1910–1920. Wide range of the author's styles reveal Stein as philosopher, poet, portraitist, dramatist and short story writer, as the investigator of the nature of language, and much more.

Challenges you to go beneath the brief, shocking story and ask: who is the tester, who is the tested and what motivates the test? Among stories so terrible they rend our hearts, so profound they touch the depths of our souls and so exalted they reach to heaven, none is more poignant than the Bible story of Abraham's sacrifice of his son, Isaac. A story revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims, and turned over and over by great secular thinkers searching for meaning, this gripping tale shocks us into complete attention, then takes us--in nineteen short verses--on a roller coaster ride of emotion, challenge and hope. Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, known widely for making the Hebrew Bible relevant to our lives, draws on generations of Jewish sages, philosophers and scholars to explore this ancient story, known as the binding of Isaac or the test of Abraham. He invites us to use this powerful tale as a tool for our own soul wrestling, to transcend its words to confront our own existential sacrifices and our ability to face--and surmount--life's tests. By applying this tale's lessons to everyday events, Artson compels us to pay closer attention to our lives and, through our priorities, responsibilities, mindfulness and faith, ask ourselves if we are passing our own tests.

A New Collection of Long Out-of-Print Stories From One of the Greatest Fantasists of the Twentieth Century Avram Davidson, who died in 1993, was widely regarded as one of the most outstanding authors of short fantasy fiction in our time. This collection comprises his distinctive historical fantasies-tales of strange Mitteleuropas, of magic in Victorian England and on the American frontier. Here are "The Lineaments of Gratified Desire," "Traveller from an Antique Land," and "What Strange Stars and Skies"; here are dragons, cameras, and "The Singular Incident of the Dog on the Beach." Witty, whimsical, dark, and strange, these tales of times and places that almost were will leave even the most jaded readers amazed. No one has ever written like Avram Davidson, before or since.

' What I need,' said Pearl, as she started to slide off the roof, 'is a grandmother.' But where do you get a top gran at short notice? It's not easy. Luckily Pearl's got Winston to help her, and you can do anything when your best friend is the world's brainiest guinea pig. Then Pearl meets Gran and the surprises begin. Prepare for an emotional journey filled with laughter and tears as Pearl and her best friend Winston embark on a quest that will test their friendship and challenge them to learn valuable lessons about perseverance and acceptance. ------------------ PRAISE FOR MORRIS GLEITZMAN 'Readers can't get enough of him.' The Independent ' A brilliantly funny writer' Sunday Telegraph 'A virtuoso demonstration of how you can make comedy out of the most unlikely subject' Sunday Times 'He is one of the finest examples of a writer who can make humour stem from the things that really matter in life.' The Guardian

Final Edition is a one-issue-only political magazine written by people who are aesthetes and literary writers and edited by Wallace Shawn, who seriously believes that part of our national problem is that the people who run the country have a crude and minimal imaginative life and are too little acquainted with the quartets of Beethoven. The issue consists of five pieces: "Before the Election—Fragments from a Diary 2004" by Wallace Shawn The diarist broods on the analogy between the addiction to pornography and nationalistic obsessions, and he wonders whether a collection of people who vote in a kind of sleepwalking ignorance can ever be called a democracy. "Invitation to a Degraded World" by Jonathan Schell In this essay, Schell meditates on the comic book/disaster movie view of life, in which bin Laden and George Bush are both immersed, and discusses the "standing army" stationed in all of our homes, the media. "The Webern Variations" by Mark Strand Strand’s hauntingly delicious poem explores what is most poignantly beautiful, while exploring the themes of darkness, descent, decline, and nothingness. Wallace Shawn Interviews Noam Chomsky For those with no acquaintance with Chomsky, this could make a wonderful introduction, while offering surprising insights to those who know him well. Chomsky is electric with vitality, wit, and rage as he ranges ferociously across the present and ancient worlds, giving his thoughts on the development of the internet, the 2004 election, and the God of the Bible. In an odd way, the interview highlights the inspirational and optimistic quality of this enormously angry man. "The Twilight of the Superheroes" by Deborah Eisenberg In this brooding, passionate, and brilliant short story, Deborah Eisenberg paints a brutally honest portrait of New York City today and of our lives today, wherever we live. Through observing the lives of some sophisticated residents of the great metropolis, we encounter truths which are both poetic and deeply political.

The twelve contemporary fiction writers interviewed in Passion and Craft go beyond the merely autobiographical, revealing that, despite their differences, they share passionate devotion and discipline for their craft. Included are Richard Ford, winner in 1995 of both the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award; Gina Berriault, 1997 winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award; Bobbie Ann Mason; T. Coraghessan Boyle; Rick Bass; Leonard Michaels; Christopher Tilghman; Thom Jones; Julia Alvarez; Andre Dubus; Jayne Anne Phillips; and Tobias Wolff. Their comments will interest readers devoted to their novels and stories, other writers, and aspiring writers.

The fourteen stories that make up Jonathan Baumbach's eighth book of fiction deals with parents, children, love, basketball, billiards, reading, marriage, divorce--the essentials of everyday life which, through the author's unique strategy of narrative, come to the reader in unexpected ways. Combining comedy and nightmare, these stories distinguish themselves by the charge of their imaginative life, their concern with language, and the play and replay of their form. "Familiar Games" describes a one-on-one basketball game between a 12-year-old boy and his mother, a match that evokes a childhood memory of sexual mystery; "Passion?" concerns the disrepair of a marriage that has presented itself to friends and the world as ideal; "Children of Divorced Parents" centers on the problematic career of a filmmaker who, after several failed marriages, continues to pursue the illusion of first love; and the title story, "The Life and Times of Major Fiction," investigates the mysterious career of a literary confidence man, an impassioned lover of good books, whose life is itself a pastiche of the plots of major fictions.

Nine stories examine the barriers that shape modern relationships between lovers, parents and children, and friends

‘Sinclair matches his brisk and original intelligence with an abundant yet sharply controlled prose that makes The Lady with the Laptop a hugely enjoyable and stimulating collection’ Nicholas Wroe, Independent ‘His natural irony is a consistently benevolent force, undermining prejudice, cultural division and paranoia . . . The Lady with the Laptop confirms him as a great observer of both the Jewish diaspora and the instability of any cultural identity’ Ra Page, Guardian ‘Sinclair is great fun, a canny court jester juggling big issues of life, death and cultural chaos, to the tune of a belly laugh’ Angela Neustatter, Literary Review ‘As the title suggests, there is a Chekovian theme running through the stories. They are laced with a wonderful black irony, but they are also very poignant’ Shena Mackay, Scotland on Sunday , Books of the Year ‘This outstanding collection should consolidate Clive Sinclair’s reputation as one of the most inventive writers working in the form today’ Elizabeth Lowry, Times Literary Supplement

Five short stories which describe what it was like to grow up in Jerusalem in the first half of the twentieth century.

In 'Promised Land', Jack Dann returns to the alternate America of his acclaimed 2004 novel 'The Rebel'.