As traveling salesman Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was lying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his dome like brown belly divided into stiff arched segments on top of which the bed quilt could hardly stay in place and was about to slide off completely. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes.

Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis is about Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman who wakes up one day to find that he has transformed into a giant insect. His family is disgusted with him, especially when he is no longer able to earn income. Gregor eventually dies after deciding that he is a burden to his family.

Jim can sell anything to anyone. Born into abject poverty, he uses street smarts, irresistible charms, and increasingly sophisticated schemes to pull himself up from door-to-door salesman to international mogul, the father of the pyramid scheme.

A decent, ordinary life jeopardized by a catastrophically extraordinary event: this is the story, mythic in its outline and substance, that Judy Troy--author of two New York Times Notable Books and Whiting award winner--tells in From the Black Hills. In Wheatley, South Dakota, during the summer before Mike Newlin is to begin college, his father, an insurance salesman, shoots and kills the young woman who works for him as his receptionist. He disappears, and Mike is left behind in shock and grief. With his future suddenly obscured, Mike finds himself nearly overwhelmed by his present circumstances--not only the emotional damage inflicted by his father's awful crime but also his mother's dismay, the insinuating methods of a criminal investigator named Tom DeWitt, his girlfriend's anxieties, and his longing for an older woman who lives nearby--and the question of whether he will ever see his father again and what will happen if he does. As imposing as the landscape that forms its setting, From the Black Hills conveys with compassionate power the drama of a young man who must try to overcome his father's dark legacy. "From the Hardcover edition.

Despite the notion of female solidarity, almost every office has its feud--usually between two women. In The Feud, a work friendship goes bad. Very bad. During the mid-nineties, the Internet was new and cell phones were rare. Nikki and Roberta employ these emerging technologies as they engage in a war of betrayals that threatens one with the loss of her boyfriend and reputation and the other with the loss of her home and family. Roberta drinks wine, Nikki smokes weed; they each have their little helpers--but can anything really help them achieve peace? Picture a mid-'90s, suburban New York office full of saleswomen, each successful, attractive, and competitive in her own way. Add boyfriends and sex, booze and drugs...and a spat between two of the women that soon becomes a knock-down, drag-out war. Welcome to Catherine Hiller's latest, a light, lively romp of a read that will have you turning pages faster than you can say flip phone or World Wide Web. --Cathi Hanauer, New York Times bestselling author of Gone and The Bitch is Back Roberta and Nikki begin as office friends, but the relationship soon curdles, turning the two into rivals and finally bitter enemies. Shrewd-eyed, sharp and stylish, The Feud exposes the dark secrets of women in the workplace with assurance, intelligence and wit. --Yona Zeldis McDonough, author of The House on Primrose Pond and fiction editor, Lilith Catherine Hiller weaves a story of intrigue and revenge and shows us how women can cause each other piercing pain when they attack from behind. The Feud delivers emotional intensity and a realistic portrayal of the darkest side of female relationships. --Kathi Elster, Co-Author of Mean Girls at Work and Working With You Is Killing Me Catherine Hiller takes on an ancient theme--the feud between women--with humor, grace and verve. --Roxana Robinson, author of Cost and Sparta and former Authors Guild President