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Dogs and Monsters Stories [electronic resource] : by Haddon, Mark.aut; cloudLibrary;
From the "terrifyingly talented" (The Times, [London]) author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and The Porpoise, eight mesmerizingly imaginative, deeply-humane stories that use Greek myths and contemporary dystopian narratives to examine mortality, moral choices and the many variants of love For millenia Greek myths have fascinated people, who have seen in them lessons about fate and hubris and the contingency of existence. Mark Haddon digs into the heart of these ancient fables and imagines them anew. The dawn goddess Eos asks Zeus to give her lover Tithonus eternal life but forgets to ask for eternal youth. In "The Quiet Limit of the World" Haddon imagines Tithonus' life as he slowly ages over thousands of years, turning the cautionary tale of tempting the gods into a spellbinding meditation on witnessing death from the outside, and ultimately, how carnal love evolves into something richer and more poignant with time. In "The Mother’s Story," Haddon takes the myth of the minotaur in his labyrinth, in which the beast is the spawn of the monstrous lust of the king's wife Pasiphaë, and turns it into a wrenching parable of maternal love for a damaged child, and the more real monstrosities of patriarchy. In "D.O.G.Z.," the story of Actaeon, who was turned into a stag after glimpsing the naked goddess Diana and torn to pieces by his hunting dogs, becomes a visceral metaphor about the continuum of human and animal behavior. Other stories play with contemporary mythic tropes—genetic engineering, trying to escape the future, the viciousness of adolescent ostracism—to showcase how modern humans are subject to the same capriciousness that obsessed the Greeks. Haddon's tales cover a vast range, from the mythic to the domestic, from ancient Greece to the present day, from stories about love to stories about cruelty, from battlefields to bed and breakfasts, from dogs in space to doors between worlds, all of them bound together by a profound sympathy and an understanding of how human beings act and think and feel when pushed to the very edge. Throughout, Haddon's supple prose showcases his astonishing powers of observation, of both the physical world and the workings of the psyche. His vision is clear-eyed, but always resolutely empathetic.
Subjects: Electronic books.; Literary; Magical Realism; Historical;
© 2024., Doubleday Canada,
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The fire and the darkness : the bombing of Dresden, 1945 / by McKay, Sinclair,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."A gripping work of narrative nonfiction recounting the history of the Dresden Bombing, one of the most devastating attacks of World War II. On February 13th, 1945 at 10:03 PM, British bombers began one of the most devastating attacks of WWII: the bombing of Dresden. The first contingent killed people and destroyed buildings, roads, and other structures. The second rained down fire, turning the streets into a blast furnace, the shelters into ovens, and whipping up a molten hurricane in which the citizens of Dresden were burned, baked, or suffocated to death. Early the next day, American bombers finished off what was left. Sinclair McKay's The Fire and the Darkness is a pulse-pounding work of history that looks at the life of the city in the days before the attack, tracks each moment of the bombing, and considers the long period of reconstruction and recovery. The Fire and the Darkness is powered by McKay's reconstruction of this unthinkable terror from the points of view of the ordinary civilians: Margot Hille, an apprentice brewery worker; Gisela Reichelt, a ten-year-old schoolgirl; boys conscripted into the Hitler Youth; choristers of the Kreuzkirche choir; artists, shop assistants, and classical musicians, as well as the Nazi officials stationed there. What happened that night in Dresden was calculated annihilation in a war that was almost over. Sinclair McKay's brilliant work takes a complex, human, view of this terrible night and its aftermath in a gripping book that will be remembered long after the last page is turned."--
Subjects: World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Scenes from my life : a memoir / by Williams, Michael Kenneth,author.; Sternfeld, Jon,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."A moving, unflinching memoir of hard-won success, struggles with addiction, and a lifelong mission to give back--from the late iconic actor beloved for his roles in The Wire, Boardwalk Empire, and Lovecraft Country. When Michael K. Williams died on September 6, 2021, he left behind a career as one of the most electrifying actors of his generation. From his star turn as Omar Little in The Wire to Chalky White in Boardwalk Empire to Emmy-nominated roles in HBO's The Night Of and Lovecraft Country, Williams inhabited a slew of indelible roles that he portrayed with a rawness and vulnerability that leapt off the screen. Beyond the nominations and acclaim, Williams played characters who connected, whose humanity couldn't be denied, whose stories were too often left out of the main narrative. At the time of his death, Williams had nearly finished a memoir that tells the story of his past while looking to the future, a book that merges his life and his life's work. Mike, as his friends knew him, was so much more than an actor. In Scenes from My Life, he traces his life in whole, from his childhood in East Flatbush and his early years as a dancer to his battles with addiction and the bar fight that left his face with his distinguishing scar. He was a committed Brooklyn resident and activist who dedicated his life to working with social justice organizations and his community, especially in helping at-risk youth find their voice and carve out their future. Williams worked to keep the spotlight on those he fought for and with, whom he believed in with his whole heart. Imbued with poignance and raw honesty, Scenes from My Life is the story of a performer who gave his all to everything he did--in his own voice, in his own words, as only he could"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Williams, Michael Kenneth.; Actors; African American actors; African American dancers; Dancers;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Stalin's daughter : the extraordinary and tumultuous life of Svetlana Alliluyeva / by Sullivan, Rosemary,1947-;
Includes bibliographical references and index."The award-winning author of Villa Air-Bel returns with a painstakingly researched, revelatory biography of Svetlana Stalin, a woman fated to live her life in the shadow of one of history's most monstrous dictators--her father, Josef Stalin. Born in the early years of the Soviet Union, Svetlana Stalin spent her youth inside the walls of the Kremlin. Communist Party privilege protected her from the mass starvation and purges that haunted Russia, but she did not escape tragedy--the loss of everyone she loved, including her mother, two brothers, aunts and uncles, and a lover twice her age, deliberately exiled to Siberia by her father. As she gradually learned about the extent of her father's brutality after his death, Svetlana could no longer keep quiet and in 1967 shocked the world by defecting to the United States--leaving her two children behind. But although she was never a part of her father's regime, she could not escape his legacy. Her life in America was fractured; she moved frequently, married disastrously, shunned other Russian exiles, and ultimately died in poverty in Spring Green, Wisconsin. With access to KGB, CIA, and Soviet government archives, as well as the close cooperation of Svetlana's daughter, Rosemary Sullivan pieces together Svetlana's incredible life in a masterful account of unprecedented intimacy. Epic in scope, it's a revolutionary biography of a woman doomed to be a political prisoner of her father's name. Sullivan explores a complicated character in her broader context without ever losing sight of her powerfully human story, in the process opening a closed, brutal world that continues to fascinate us. Illustrated with photographs"--Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Allilueva, Svetlana, 1926-2011.; Stalin, Joseph, 1879-1953; Stalin, Joseph, 1879-1953; Children of heads of state; Defectors; Immigrants;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Seized by uncertainty : the markets, media, and special interests that shaped Canada's response to COVID-19 / by Quigley, Kevin,1971-author.; Lowe, Kaitlynne,illustrator.; Moore, Sarah(Author of Seized by uncertainty),illustrator.; Wolfe, Brianna,illustrator.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."The COVID-19 virus was responsible for the deaths of over thirty-five thousand Canadians in its first two years alone. Described as the biggest public health crisis of the century, it was an uncertain threat, which emerged within complex psychological, social legal, administrative, and economic contexts. Seized by Uncertainty explains how Canadian governments responded to that threat. Despite early warning signs, the governments failed to appreciate the trade-offs required to respond to the pandemic. Their approach, at times intolerant of debate and blind to diversity, served the interests of some over others. Their response prioritized stability and containment, enabling four in ten people to work from home, disproportionately benefiting an educated middle-class, who benefited further with soaring stock markets and housing prices. Mental health issues spiked, racialized people were much more likely to test positive for the virus, those in low-income sectors experienced unstable employment and lacked workplace safety protection, the lives of low-risk youth were in constant suspension, and residents of some care homes were virtually abandoned. Seized by Uncertainty studies the pandemic response through the contexts in which it emerged, exposing how it revealed uncomfortable truths about a fragmented society and governance problems that predated the threat."--
Subjects: COVID-19 (Disease); COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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Lad [videorecording] : a Yorkshire story / by Clarkson, Nancy,actor.; Demetriou, Mario,actor.; Exley, Oliver,actor.; Froom, Alex,actor.; Hartley, Dan,actor.; Hayes, Robert,actor.; Thomas, Liam,screenwriter,editor of moving image work,film director.; MVD Visual (Firm),film distributor.;
Nancy Clarkson, Mario Demetriou, Oliver Exley, Alex Froom, Robert Hayes, Liam Thomas.When Tom Proctor's dad dies his world falls apart. His brother joins the army, his mum is threatened with eviction, and he faces a criminal prosecution after spreading manure over the local bank. All this changes however, when Tom meets park ranger Al Thorpe in this inspiring story of two individuals overcoming adversity to discover true friendship.PG.DVD ; surround 5.1.
Subjects: Feature films.; Families; Fathers; Friendship; Problem youth;
For private home use only.
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 2
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Lady in the lake : a novel / by Lippman, Laura,1959-author.;
"The revered New York Times bestselling author returns with a novel set in 1960s Baltimore that combines modern psychological insights with elements of classic noir, about a middle-aged housewife turned aspiring reporter who pursues the murder of a forgotten young woman. In 1966, Baltimore is a city of secrets that everyone seems to know--everyone, that is, except Madeline "Maddie" Schwartz. Last year, she was a happy, even pampered housewife. This year, she's bolted from her marriage of almost twenty years, determined to make good on her youthful ambitions to live a passionate, meaningful life. Maddie wants to matter, to leave her mark on a swiftly changing world. Drawing on her own secrets, she helps Baltimore police find a murdered girl--assistance that leads to a job at the city's afternoon newspaper, the Star. Working at the newspaper offers Maddie the opportunity to make her name, and she has found just the story to do it: a missing woman whose body was discovered in the fountain of a city park lake. Cleo Sherwood was a young African-American woman who liked to have a good time. No one seems to know or care why she was killed except Maddie--and the dead woman herself. Maddie's going to find the truth about Cleo's life and death. Cleo's ghost, privy to Maddie's poking and prying, wants to be left alone. Maddie's investigation brings her into contact with people that used to be on the periphery of her life--a jewelery store clerk, a waitress, a rising star on the Baltimore Orioles, a patrol cop, a hardened female reporter, a lonely man in a movie theater. But for all her ambition and drive, Maddie often fails to see the people right in front of her. Her inability to look beyond her own needs will lead to tragedy and turmoil for all sorts of people--including the man who shares her bed, a black police officer who cares for Maddie more than she knows"--"New York Times bestseller Laura Lippman returns with a new stand-alone novel about a middle aged housewife turned aspiring reporter Maddie Schwartz, who is determined to solve the murder of a forgotten young woman in order to make her own reputation"--
Subjects: Thrillers (Fiction); Psychological fiction.; Historical fiction.; Noir fiction.; Women journalists; Women; Murder;
Available copies: 2 / Total copies: 2
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Lady in the lake [sound recording] : a novel / by Lippman, Laura,1959-author.; Bennett, Susan(Narrator),narrator.; Harper Audio (Firm),publisher.;
Read by Susan Bennett."The revered New York Times bestselling author returns with a novel set in 1960s Baltimore that combines modern psychological insights with elements of classic noir, about a middle-aged housewife turned aspiring reporter who pursues the murder of a forgotten young woman. In 1966, Baltimore is a city of secrets that everyone seems to know--everyone, that is, except Madeline "Maddie" Schwartz. Last year, she was a happy, even pampered housewife. This year, she's bolted from her marriage of almost twenty years, determined to make good on her youthful ambitions to live a passionate, meaningful life. Maddie wants to matter, to leave her mark on a swiftly changing world. Drawing on her own secrets, she helps Baltimore police find a murdered girl--assistance that leads to a job at the city's afternoon newspaper, the Star. Working at the newspaper offers Maddie the opportunity to make her name, and she has found just the story to do it: a missing woman whose body was discovered in the fountain of a city park lake. Cleo Sherwood was a young African-American woman who liked to have a good time. No one seems to know or care why she was killed except Maddie--and the dead woman herself. Maddie's going to find the truth about Cleo's life and death. Cleo's ghost, privy to Maddie's poking and prying, wants to be left alone. Maddie's investigation brings her into contact with people that used to be on the periphery of her life--a jewelery store clerk, a waitress, a rising star on the Baltimore Orioles, a patrol cop, a hardened female reporter, a lonely man in a movie theater. But for all her ambition and drive, Maddie often fails to see the people right in front of her. Her inability to look beyond her own needs will lead to tragedy and turmoil for all sorts of people--including the man who shares her bed, a black police officer who cares for Maddie more than she knows"--"New York Times bestseller Laura Lippman returns with a new stand-alone novel about a middle aged housewife turned aspiring reporter Maddie Schwartz, who is determined to solve the murder of a forgotten young woman in order to make her own reputation"--
Subjects: Thrillers (Fiction); Audiobooks.; Psychological fiction.; Historical fiction.; Noir fiction.; Women journalists; Women; Murder;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Shadow of the lions : a novel / by Swann, Christopher,1970-author.;
"How long must we pay for the crimes of our youth? A prestigious boys' boarding school. A best friend's betrayal. A decades-old mystery of a missing student. In this sharp literary thriller, Matthias Glass gets drawn into his past as he attempts to come to terms with the long-ago disappearance of his prep-school roommate -- and to become the man he is meant to be. In the middle of his senior year at the Blackburne School in Virginia, Matthias Glass's roommate and best friend Fritz Davenport runs off into the woods after the two boys have an argument -- and vanishes without a trace. Ever since, Matthias has felt responsible, thinking that their fight, about a betrayal of the school's honor code, led to Fritz's disappearance. A decade later, after an early triumph with his first novel, followed by too much partying and too little work, Matthias realizes he has stalled out, become a failure as a writer, a boyfriend, a man. So when he is offered a job at Blackburne as an English teacher, he sees it as a chance to put his life back together. But once on campus, Matthias gets swiftly drawn into the past, and is driven to find out what happened to Fritz. Along the way he must reckon with Fritz's complicated and powerful Washington, D.C., family, the shocking death of a student, and begin to understand his own place in the privileged world of Blackburne. In the spirit of film noir, Shadow of the Lions is a tale full of unexpected turns -- a thriller, but also a moving story that is as much about the mystery as it is about the redemption of a broken friendship and a lost soul"--
Subjects: Thrillers (Fiction); English teachers; Missing children; Preparatory school students; Preparatory schools;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The dead are arising : the life of Malcolm X / by Payne, Les,1941-author.; Payne, Tamara,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."An epic biography of Malcolm X finally emerges, drawing on hundreds of hours of the author's interviews, rewriting much of the known narrative. Les Payne, the renowned Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, embarked in 1990 on a nearly thirty-year-long quest to interview anyone he could find who had actually known Malcolm X-all living siblings of the Malcolm Little family, classmates, street friends, cellmates, Nation of Islam figures, FBI moles and cops, and political leaders around the world. His goal was ambitious: to transform what would become over a hundred hours of interviews into an unprecedented portrait of Malcolm X, one that would separate fact from fiction. The result is this historic biography that conjures a never-before-seen world of its protagonist, a work whose title is inspired by a phrase Malcolm X used when he saw his Hartford followers stir with purpose, as if the dead were truly arising, to overcome the obstacles of racism. Setting Malcolm's life not only within the Nation of Islam but against the larger backdrop of American history, the book traces the life of one of the twentieth century's most politically relevant figures "from street criminal to devoted moralist and revolutionary." In tracing Malcolm X's life from his Nebraska birth in 1925 to his Harlem assassination in 1965, Payne provides searing vignettes culled from Malcolm's Depression-era youth, describing the influence of his Garveyite parents: his father, Earl, a circuit-riding preacher who was run over by a street car in Lansing, Michigan, in 1929, and his mother, Louise, who continued to instill black pride in her children after Earl's death. Filling each chapter with resonant drama, Payne follows Malcolm's exploits as a petty criminal in Boston and Harlem in the 1930s and early 1940s to his religious awakening and conversion to the Nation of Islam in a Massachusetts penitentiary. With a biographer's unwavering determination, Payne corrects the historical record and delivers extraordinary revelations-from the unmasking of the mysterious NOI founder "Fard Muhammad," who preceded Elijah Muhammad; to a hair-rising scene, conveyed in cinematic detail, of Malcolm and Minister Jeremiah X Shabazz's 1961 clandestine meeting with the KKK; to a minute-by-minute account of Malcolm X's murder at the Audubon Ballroom. Introduced by Payne's daughter and primary researcher, Tamara Payne, who, following her father's death, heroically completed the biography, The Dead Are Arising is a penetrating and riveting work that affirms the centrality of Malcolm X to the African American freedom struggle"--
Subjects: Biographies.; X, Malcolm, 1925-1965.; African American civil rights workers; African American Muslims; African Americans; Black Muslims; Black nationalism;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Results 41 to 50 of 59 | « previous |