Literature

'Fiercely independent, all of Evans's characters struggle for a place in a world intent of fencing them out.' - New York Times Book ReviewThe extraordinary debut short story collection from Danielle Evans, one of the United States' foremost literary talents, is published in the UK for the first time. A college student's unplanned pregnancy forces her to confront her feelings of resentment toward her more privileged classmates. A father's misguided attempt to rescue a gift for his adult daughter magnifies all he doesn't know about her.

And two teenage girls' flirt with adulthood leads to disastrous consequences. Based in a world where inequality is reality, but where the shifting terrain of adolescence and family are the most complicating forces, Evans' characters are wry, wise and utterly original. Striking in their emotional immediacy, the electrifying, prize-winning stories in Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self offer a fresh perspective on race and class in contemporary America.

'Danielle Evans is funny as hell' - Victor LaValle, author of Big Machine'Knife-sharp wit and tender but unflinching eye' - V.V. Ganeshananthan, author of Love Marriage

Long ago, the evil God Torak fought a war to obtain an object of immense power - the Orb of Aldur. But Torak was defeated and the Orb reclaimed by Belgarath the sorcerer. Garion, a young farm lad, loves the story when he first hears it from the old storyteller. But it has nothing to do with him. Or does it? For the stories also tell of a prophecy that must be fulfilled - a destiny handed down through the generations. And Torak is stirring again .

An immediate best-seller on publication, Ben Hur remains a dazzling achievement by any standards. A thoroughly exhilarating tale of betrayal, revenge and salvation, it is the only novel that ranks with Uncle Tom's Cabin as a genuine American folk possession. This was the book that finally overcame the inherent suspicion of fiction that still prevailed in much of america in the late nineteenth century. Wallace writes with a freshness and immediacy that brings every action-packed scene to life and illuminates the geography, ethnology and customs of the ancient world.

This extraordinary collection of short stories reminds us how great a talent Dreiser was. A giant among American writers, he fought throughout his career to capture life in realistic terms. In his stories as well as his celebrated novels, he sought to uncover the problems of common Americans at the turn of the century their struggles with society and their dreams of power and wealth against a backdrop of threatening poverty. "Dreiser has no peer in the American short story. As fine as his novels are, they do not attain the artistic wholeness of his short tales. Among the moderns, there is almost no one capable of writing tales like these. The best of today is pallid and non-human when compared with Dreiser s compassionate searchings." from the Introduction by Howard Fast."

What happens when three young lawyers set off at night into unknown parts of town in search of a stolen motorcycle? What happens when Minas visits a gay bar together with his uncle, the general - no stranger to the place it seems - or ends up in bed with Gia? When Petros, enjoying an evening away from his wife and kids, finds himself in the company off Soulis, handsome bike thief and sometime catamite? Or when poor Stelios is strapped to a lie detector cum personality analyser at the American base? And what about the adventures of the pack of stray dogs roaming around the town that same night, watching the trans-vestites, settling scores with the white cat Gabriel, seeing their old teacher off on his way to the other world? Alexis Panselinos tells us all this and more in a story which is sometimes surreal, always tender, subtle, sad and extremely funny.

‘Glorious, fearless… possibly her very best’ Observer 'Pandora is a masterly creation' New York Times Pandora has looked up to her older brother Edison since they were children. Now she revels in the anonymity of her suburban Iowa life, while her brother basks in the limelight as a New York jazz musician. But when Edison arrives in Iowa, suddenly in need of a place to stay, Pandora literally doesn't recognize him. The once slim, hip pianist has gained hundreds of pounds. What happened? With Shriver's distinctive wit and ferocious energy, Big Brother asks: just how much should you sacrifice for someone who refuses to be saved? ––––––––––––––– ‘A surprising sledgehammer of a novel’ The Times ‘Shriver is brilliant on the novel shock that is hunger… glorious, fearless, almost fanatically hard-working prose’ Guardian ?‘Lionel Shriver's Big Brother has the muscle to overpower its readers. It is a conversation piece of impressive heft’ New York Times ‘Shriver is wonderful at the things she is always wonderful at. Pace and plot… . Psychology’ Independent ‘The latest compelling, humane and bleakly comic novel from the author of We Need to Talk about Kevin’ Evening Standard ‘Her best work… presents characters so fully formed that they inhabit her ideas rather than trumpet them’ New Republic

DISCOVER THE GRIPPING NO. 1 BESTSELLER BEHIND THE AWARD WINNING HBO SENSATION STARRING REESE WITHERSPOON, NICOLE KIDMAN & MERYL STREEP
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Perfect families, perfect houses, perfect lives.

Three mothers, Jane, Madeline and Celeste appear to have it all, until they find out just how easy it is for one little lie to spiral out of control . . .

Single mum Jane has just moved to town. She's got her little boy in tow - plus a secret she's been carrying for five years.

On the first day of the school run she meets Madeline - a force to be reckoned with, who remembers everything and forgives no one - and Celeste, the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare, but is inexplicably ill at ease.

They both take Jane under their wing - while careful to keep their own secrets under wraps.

But a minor incident involving the children of all three women rapidly escalates: playground whispers become spiteful rumours until no one can tell the truth from the lies . . .

It was always going to end in tears, but how did it end in murder?

This new verse translation of Aristophanes' comedies offers one of the world's great comic dramatists in a form that is both historically faithful and theatrically vigorous. Aristophanes' plays were produced for the festival theater of classical Athens in the fifth century BC and encompass the whole gamut of humor, from brilliantly inventive fantasy to obscene vulgarity. This edition includes a substantial general introduction and introductory essays for each of the plays, as well as full explanatory notes and an index of names.

'Askaripour's satire of the tech industry . . . will appeal to fans of Paul Beatty's Booker-prizewinning novel "The Sellout" and Jordan Peele's film "Get Out"' The Economist'Mesmerizing. . . a high wire act full of verve and dark, comic energy.' Colson Whitehead, author of The Underground Railroad'I love this so much. It's effortlessly funny, smart and satisfyingly self-aware' Candice Carty-Williams, author of QueenieMeet Darren. An unambitious twenty-two-year-old living with his mother and working at Starbucks. All that changes when a chance encounter with Rhett Daniels, the silver-tongued CEO of NYC's hottest tech startup, results in Darren joining Rhett's elite sales team. On his first day Darren realizes he is the only Black person in the company, and when things start to get strange, he reimagines himself as 'Buck', a ruthless salesman, unrecognizable to his friends and family. Money, partying, and fame soon follow Buck, and wherever he goes more is never enough. But when tragedy strikes at home, Buck begins to hatch a plan to help young people of colour infiltrate America's sales force, setting off a chain of events that forever changes the game. An earnest work of satire, Black Buck is a hilarious, razor-sharp skewering of office culture; a propulsive, crackling debut that explores ambition and race, and makes way for a necessary new vision of the American dream. 'A crackling satire of corporate America' Guardian'A wonderful, riotous romp. A razor sharp, humorous examination of American workplace dynamics in the tech industry' Irenosen Okojie