Μυθιστόρημα

Dear Dickhead,
I read the piece you posted on Insta. You're like a pigeon shitting on my shoulder as you flap past. It's shitty and unpleasant.

Congratulations: you've had your fifteen minutes of fame! You want proof? Here I am writing to you.

Rebecca Latte is a famous actress in her fifties, perhaps past the peak of her career.

Oscar Jayack is a middle-aged, moderately successful author who, in the wake of the #MeToo movement, has been accused of sexual harassment by his former publicist-turned-feminist blogger Zoe Katana.

When Oscar insults Rebecca's appearance on Instagram, she sends a scorching reply and the pair fall into a spiral of mutual antipathy. In back-and-forth emails, they vie for the last word, finding common ground in their experiences of addiction, assessing the changing world around them as Covid locks down Paris, and reluctantly beginning to lean on one another.

A novel of rage, irreverence and vulnerability, exploring ageing, gender, privilege, addiction and consent, Dear Dickhead is an excoriating encapsulation of our times and of the broken human beings trying to make sense of it.

In an unnamed country, on the first day of the New Year, people stop dying. There is great celebration and people dance in the streets. They have achieved the great goal of humanity: eternal life. Soon, though, the residents begin to suffer. Undertakers face bankruptcy, the church is forced to reinvent its doctrine, and local 'maphia' smuggle those on the brink of death over the border where they can expire naturally. Death does return eventually, but with a new, courteous approach - delivering violet warning letters to her victims. But what can death do when a letter is unexpectedly returned?

No one in Lochdubh expects Dorothy to stay for long... She is, after all, entirely unsuitable. She's an uptown girl, used to a fancy lifestyle in the big city of Glasgow. She'll never fit in. And how is that work-shy rogue Hamish Macbeth supposed to get anything done when his new assistant is such a distraction? The village needs a police sergeant who can get on with his job, not one who's constantly swooning over his pretty young constable. Yet PC Dorothy McIver quickly shows how determined she is to win over the locals, and she certainly seems to bring out the best in Macbeth. Then comes a brutal murder and the pair find themselves plunged into a tangled web of conspiracy that acquires a sinister strand when the chilling shadow of Glasgow's underworld creeps to the Highlands and the peaceful village of Lochdubh. Through it all, the bond between Hamish and Dorothy grows ever stronger. Has Hamish Macbeth finally found the love of his life - and can he track down the murderer before any hope he has for a blissful future is destroyed?'This Hamish Macbeth novel maintains Beaton's distinctive voice and includes the usual village eccentrics, loads of Scottish lore, and the light humor that Beaton fans have loved through the years. . . A definite purchase for all mystery collections' Starred Review, Library Journal'Unmissable!' Peterborough Telegraph Praise for the Hamish Macbeth series:'First rate ... deft social comedy and wonderfully realized atmosphere.' Booklist'It's always a treat to return to Lochdubh.' New York Times'Readers will enjoy the quirks and unique qualities of the cast ... Beaton catches the beauty of the area's natural geography and succinctly describes its distinct flavour.' Library Journal'Befuddled, earnest and utterly endearing, Hamish makes his triumphs sweetly satisfying.' Publishers Weekly

Sergeant Hamish Macbeth - Scotland's most quick-witted but unambitious policeman - returns for the latest mystery in M.C. Beaton's New York Times bestselling series. Nobody loves an honest man, or that was what police sergeant Hamish Macbeth tried to tell newcomer Paul English.

Paul attended church in Lochdubh. He told the minister, Mr. Wellington, that his sermons were boring.

He told tweedy Mrs. Wellington that she was too fat. Angela Brody was told her detective stories were pap for the masses and it was time she wrote literature instead.

He accused Hamish of having dyed his fiery red hair. He told Jessie Currie - who repeated all the last words of her twin sister - that she needed psychiatric help. 'I speak as I find,' he bragged.

Voices saying, 'I could kill that man,' could be heard from Lochdubh to Cnothan. And someone did. Now Hamish is faced with a bewildering array of suspects.

And he's lost the services of his clumsy policeman, Charlie, who has resigned from the force after throwing Chief Inspector Blair into the loch. Can Hamish find the killer on his own?Praise for M. C.

Beaton'The much-loved Hamish Macbeth series . . .

a beguiling blend of wry humour and sharp observations of rural life' The Good Book Guide 'It's always a special treat to return to Lochdubh' New York Times 'First rate . . .

deft social comedy and wonderfully realised atmosphere' Booklist'M C Beaton's Hamish Macbeth books are a delight: clever, intricate and sardonic' Kerry Greenwood

An invaluable record of the creative output of one of the most inquisitive and analytical thinkers of the twentieth century at the height of her power, Debriefing collects all of Susan Sontag's shorter fiction, a form she turned to intermittently throughout her writing life.

Ranging from allegory to parable to autobiography, these stories show Sontag wrestling with problems beyond the essayistic form, her more customary mode. Here, she catches fragments of life on the fly, dramatizes her private griefs and fears, and lets characters take her where they will. The result is a collection of remarkable brilliance, versatility, and charm. Sontag's work has typically required time for people to catch up to it. These challenging works of literary art--made more urgent by the passage of years--await a new generation of readers.

With his distinctive dark wit, Evelyn Waugh's Decline and Fall is a masterful social satire sending up the social mores of 1920s England, edited with an introduction by David Bradshaw in Penguin Modern Classics. Expelled from Oxford for indecent behaviour, Paul Pennyfeather is oddly unsurprised to find himself qualifying for the position of schoolmaster at Llanabba Castle. Hi colleagues are an assortment of misfits, including Prendy (plagued by doubts) and captain Grimes, who is always in the soup (or just plain drunk). Then Sports Day arrives, and with it the delectable Margot Beste-Chetwynde, floating on a scented breeze. As the farce unfolds and the young run riot, no one is safe, least of all Paul. Taking its title from Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Evelyn Waugh's first, funniest novel immediately caught the ear of the public with his account of an ingenu abroad in the decadent confusion of 1920s high society. 'The funniest book I have ever read' Julian Symons, The Times 'His first, most perfect novel ...a ruthlessly comic plot' John Mortimer, Guardian 'Concocted of cruelty, bigotry, pederasty, white slavery, violence, madness and murder, Decline and Fall is fundamentally playful and side-splittingly funny' David Bradshaw

The breath-taking and heart-pounding fifth instalment in the incredible New York Times and UK kindle bestselling SHATTER ME series. Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Victoria Aveyard and Leigh Bardugo. She was never meant for you. She was never meant for any of this. That girl was sentenced to death the moment I named her Juliette. Juliette Ferrars isn't who she thinks she is. Nothing in her world is what it seemed. She thought she'd defeated The Reestablishment. She thought she'd finally taken control of her life, her power, her pain. But a lifetime of lies unravelling before her has changed all that. Stronger, braver, and more resilient than ever, Juliette must fight for life and love. But first she has to survive the war being raged against her mind. She has to remember who she was. Tahereh Mafi is the New York Times bestselling author of the Shatter Me series which has been published in over 30 languages around the world. She is also the author of the ravely reviewed A Very Large Expanse of Sea. he was born in a small city somewhere in Connecticut and currently resides in Santa Monica, California, with her husband, Ransom Riggs, fellow bestselling author of Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children, and their young daughter. She can usually be found overcaffeinated and stuck in a book. You can find her online just about anywhere at @TaherehMafi. Praise for the Shatter Me series: "Dangerous, sexy, romantic, and intense. I dare you to stop reading." - Kami Garcia, #1 New York Times bestselling co-author of the Beautiful Creatures series "Addictive, intense, and oozing with romance. I'm envious. I couldn't put it down." - Lauren Kate, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Fallen series "Tahereh Mafi's bold, inventive prose crackles with raw emotion. A thrilling, high-stakes saga of self-discovery and forbidden love, the Shatter Me series is a must-read for fans of dystopian young adult literature - or any literature!" -Ransom Riggs, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Praise for A Very Large Expanse of Sea: 'This is a gorgeous book. It's tender and fierce, beautiful even as it depicts some ugly truths. The prose is passionate and honest, unsentimental and big-hearted. The very best books move you to reconsider the world around you and this is one of those. I truly loved it.' - Nicola Yoon, bestselling author of Everything, Everything 'A raw yet astoundingly elegant examination of identity, loneliness and family that is unflinching in its honesty and power. Tahereh Mafi holds nothing back - and the reader is better for it.' - Sabaa Tahir, New York Times bestselling author of Ember in the Ashes 'A Very Large Expanse of Sea reads like a beautiful heart - one that shines and aches and yearns, and above all else, one that loves fiercely against all odds. Years from now, you will remember exactly where you were and what you were doing when you experienced this. A transcendent story about truth, love and finding joy.' - Marie Lu, New York Times bestselling author of the Legend series.'

From the renowned artist and author Patti Smith, a rare and generous look into the creative process