"The highly original satire about Oedipa Maas, a woman who finds herself enmeshed in a worldwide conspiracy.
When her ex-lover, wealthy real-estate tycoon Pierce Inverarity, dies and designates her the coexecutor of his estate, California housewife Oedipa Maas is thrust into a paranoid mystery of metaphors, symbols, and the United States Postal Service. Traveling across Southern
California, she meets some extremely interesting characters, and attains a not inconsiderable amount of self-knowledge.
“The work of a virtuoso with prose … His intricate symbolic order [is] akin to that of Joyce’s Ulysses.”—Chicago Tribune"
"First published in English under the title The Accident, Elie Wiesel's third novel in his trilogy of Holocaust literature has now adopted Wiesel's original title: Day. In the opening scene, a Holocaust survivor and successful journalist steps off a curb in New York City directly into the pathway of an oncoming cab. As he struggles between life and death, the journalist recalls the effects of the historical tragedy of the Holocaust on himself and his family. Like the memoir Night and the novel Dawn, Wiesel again poses important questions involving the meaning of almost an entire annihilation of a race, loss of faith in the face of mass murder and torture and the aftermath and effects of the Holocaust on individuals and the Jewish people. 'Not since Albert Camus has there been such an eloquent spokesman for man.'-The New York Times Book Review"
"Daisy is as free as the air, but an innocent abroad. Her garden of earthly delights bristles with the thorns of youth, tradition and of love. 'Hearing Daisy Miller, listeners will recognize the tragic difficulties of youth, love, and tradition. Flo Gibson reads splendidly and portrays Daisy with requisite innocence and insolence.'-Booklist"
"This gripping novel is not only one of the best books written about Vietnam; it is also one of the most powerful anti-war novels in American literature. Walter James has no face. Braiden Chaney has no arms or legs. They lost them 22 years ago, in Vietnam. Now, in the course of one long night in a V.A. hospital, these two soldiers-one black, the other white-reveal how they came to be where they are and what they can only hope to become."
"Jane Smiley's talent for creating emotionally-gripping tales of family relationships was celebrated when she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for A Thousand Acres. In Duplicate Keys, Smiley displays her flair for creating a haunting mystery. Everyone has keys to Susan's New York apartment: all her friends, and friends of friends. So one afternoon, when Alice unlocks Susan's door to water the plants, she isn't surprised to find two men sitting in the living room. However, that they are both dead is a shock. Now Alice must sort through a tangle of personal connections, schemes and motives to find the key to who killed them and why. As she talks with the police, the answer that starts to nag Alice is a chilling one. Ruth Ann Phimister's narration underscores the finely-phrased atmosphere and suspense."
"The bestselling author of 'The Plot Against America' now turns his attention to one man's lifelong confrontation with mortality in this fiercely intimate yet universal story of loss, regret, and stoicism. Unabridged. 5 CDs."
"Author of many novels and short stories, best-selling writer Lee Smith has received numerous awards for her works, including two O Henry Awards. Fair and Tender Ladies is an epistolary novel that traces the life of Ivy Rowe, born in the isolated Virginia mountain community of Sugar Fork. Through births and deaths, marriages and funerals, the decades of Ivy's life are captured in a rich dialect that carries the sounds and sights of the Appalachians in each syllable."
"Lee Smith is one of today's most critically acclaimed authors writing about contemporary life in the South. In Family Linen, with a remarkable economy of description and dialogue, Smith sketches eccentric, yet familiar characters moving through a family drama that resonates with both tension and humor. Sybil Hess, a polished, Southern apartment manager has visited a hypnotist in a desperate attempt to discover the source of her blinding headaches. But in one session, a mysterious, Gothic childhood memory plays before her eyes. Now Sybil is racing against time to find an answer to one urgent question. Is her quiet, genteel mother a murderer? Stretching between Sybil and the truth is a loony tangle of sibling rivalry, family lore, and jealousy. Lee Smith's darkly comic, richly textured novel will enchant you. It is a tale told by many voices: Southern dowagers and whiskey-tippling uncles, polyester-clad housewives, and MTV-eyed teenagers. Narrator Linda Stephens' performance draws you into the company of this truly unforgettable family."
"Larry Brown is hailed as one of today's most talented Southern writers. With the release of each book, including Dirty Work, Father and Son, and Joe, reviewers and fans offer increasingly enthusiastic praise for the astonishing characters he creates. At 17, Fay Jones leaves her family's squalid home with $3 in her bra and ragged sneakers on her feet. As she heads for Biloxi, people befriend her-a policeman, his wife, a bouncer-but her impact on their lives is seductive and unpredictable. Beautiful and naive, Fay becomes the catalyst in a chain reaction of desire and violence. Her journey provides unflinching snapshots of the South, from beaches to bar rooms. Wherever she lands, though, Fay is fueled by a deep-rooted will to survive. Narrator Tom Stechschulte voices every nuance of this unforgettable young woman's personality and her transient, often brutal, world."
"Author Robert Olmstead's work has been called 'brilliant and compelling' by the Chicago Tribune. Here, he takes us back to the Civil War. Robey Child, only 14, must go to the battlefield to bring his injured father home. Clad in a homemade uniform-gray on one side, blue on the other-and riding a powerful coal black horse, Robey sets out on a journey that will make him a man. '... a powerful, redemptive narrative.'-Publishers Weekly"
"Karen Kingsbury, author of 24 books, has warmed the hearts of millions with her tales of miracles. Gideon's Gift captures a Christmas miracle that touches a frail young girl and a gruff homeless man. It is a story of faith, charity, and spiritual rebirth."
"A New York Times Notable Book of the Year, The Devil's Dream is an animated, lyrical novel that is meant to be savored as spoken word. Consummate storyteller Lee Smith's creation will delight anyone who enjoys the sound of language and a good story. Preacher's son Moses Bailey believed that the fiddle was the voice of the Devil and denied his wife the pleasure of the music she dearly loved. She fiddled for her three children behind her husband's back. Thus begins a magnificent 150-year saga of a musical Southern family featuring barn dances, medicine shows, the Grand Ole Opry, and the evolution of country music from hymns to rockabilly. Generations of authentic, down-home mountain people spring to life, colorful dialects and all, through the magic of several extraordinary narrators. Each chapter, a story in itself, will move listeners with its passion, emotion, warmth, and intimacy."
