Steve Martin's first foray into fiction is as assured as it is surprising. Set in Los Angeles, its fascination with the surreal body fascism of the upper classes feels like the comedian's familiar territory, but the shopgirl of the book's title...
Megan, recently out of college and working a meaningless job as a gastroenterologist's secretary, openly hates all of her friends for being happy and successful. She makes herself feel better by obsessively critiquing the behavior of her coworker,...
Harper Roland has abandoned his job as a war correspondent, and returned home a weary, jaded 37-year-old. Uncertain of the future but determined to move forward with his life, he begins a search for enduring love-hoping he will also regain the...
Fima lives in Jerusalem, but feels that he is in Jerusalem by mistake, that he ought to be somewhere else. In the course of his life he has had several love affairs, several ideas, has written a book of poems that aroused some expectations, has...
On India's south-western coast, between Goa and Calicut, lies Kittur – a small, nondescript every town. Aravind Adiga acts as our guide to the town, mapping overlapping lives of Kittur's residents. Here, an illiterate Muslim boy working at the...
The arid wilderness of colonial South Africa is the setting for this saga of love and ambition; the duel between two formidable men for control of the legendary Kimberley diamond fields at the turn of the century. Young Barney Barnato had nothing to...
The short vignette-style tales in Troy James Weaver's literary debut, Witchita Stories, combine to make an evocative brew of small town melancholy, working class gloom, and coming of age charm. Told through the eyes of a young man who yearns to find...
A powerful Catalan author gives us a penetrating story of meaningless deaths and personal isolation, set in the heart of one of Spain’s most beautiful, vibrant places.
In the once-bucolic village of Vidreres, already decimated by a harsh...
In Richmond, Virginia, Stephanie and Jasmine compete for affection from their grandmother, Big Mama. The oldest sister, Jasmine, is waiting on her boyfriend, Derrick, to get out of jail. After three years of loyalty and celibacy, on one of her...
For all fans of A Street Cat Named Bob, this is the only book to find in your stocking this Christmas. Can a pet really change your life? Alfie is homeless, abandoned after his elderly owner passes away. But when he stumbles on to Edgar Road, Alfie...