An intriguing, fabulously bizarre debut collection of short stories by prize-winning German writer Ingo Schulze, author of Simple Stories. These thirty-three macabre, often comical short pieces revolve around moments of odd bliss–moments seized by characters who have found ways to conquer the bleakness of everyday life in the chaotic world of post-communist Russia. Peopled by Mafia gunmen, desperate young prostitutes, bewildered foreign businessmen, and even a trio of hungry devils, the stories are by turns tragic and bleakly funny. From a sly retelling of the legend of St. Nicholas featuring a rich American named Nick, to a lavish gourmet feast in which the young female cook ends up as the main dish, these stories are above all playful and even surreal–and many of them are masterful tributes to Russian writers from Gogol to Nabokov. Translated by John E. Woods.

Prize-winning German writer Ingo Schulze's first novel, Simple Stories, is a marvel of storytelling and craft. Set in the East German town of Altenburg after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it deftly leaps among an array of confused characters caught in the crossroads of their country’s history: a lovelorn waitress who falls for a visiting West German investor; an art historian turned traveling salesman; a former Communist official plagued by his past; an unsuccessful writer who asks his neighbor to break his leg so that he can continue to live on welfare. Schulze skillfully intercuts an assortment of moving and comic vignettes about seemingly unconnected people, gradually linking them into an exhilarating whole of tidal unity and emotional force, until we see that all the time we have been reading a novel in glittering fragments, spun by a master. With a piercing eye for detail and a magical ear for dialogue, Schulze portrays the tragi-comedy of ordinary people caught up in the last great historical upheaval of the century.

A collection of literature and fiction from acclaimed authors like Shakespeare, William Blake and Plato.

In his long-awaited new novel, renowned German author Ingo Schulze provides a rich and nuanced panorama of a world in transition. East Germany, January 1990. Enrico Türmer–man of the theater, aspiring novelist–has turned his back on the art world and joined a startup newspaper. Before long, the former aesthete and rebel becomes obsessed with personal gain, and in a series of letters to his sister, a friend, and a would-be lover, Enrico vividly muses on his capitalist ventures and latent worldly ambitions. As Schulze peels away the layers of Enrico’s previous existence, his antihero’s reinvention comes to embody all the questionable aspects not only of life in the old Germany, but of life in the Germany just taking form.

To many of us, the experiences that we grew up taking for granted leave become distant dreams in our adult lives: marriages that last a lifetime; safe neighborhoods to call home; the certainty that our children will have a better life than we did; and most of all, lots of time to spend as we wish, living for the moment. Instead, we find our time and energy spent recovering from the past or protecting ourselves from the future. The result is a desperate, sometimes dangerous, and often unsuccessful, search for meaning in our lives. In Real Moments, Barbara De Angelis defines happiness not as an acquisition, but as a skill--the skill of capturing every moment and living it completely. With insight, wisdom, and vision, she teaches us how to rediscover real moments with our mates and our children, with our work and our play, in sex and intimacy, and real moments with ourselves. It is an examination of our relationship with the process of living itself, offering inspiration as well as practical tools for creating more of one of the most precious moments of all--moments of true meaning in our lives.

Have you ever wished you could be happier? Recovering pessimist Joelle Marti addressed that question by designing a year-long experiment to find and write about something happy every single day. A Leap Year's worth of 366 Happy Moments later, she shares the lessons learned along the way that have transformed her life. In this book you'll discover: The personal quirks that make YOU happy The unexpected power of random experiences The simple steps to take when you feel sad And much more Through humorous stories, inspiring tips, and reader-friendly exercises, learn how you too can find, notice, and create your own Happy Moments and make every day count. Happy Moments are everywhere. It's time for you to go out and find them Stories shared in this book include everything from certifying as a yoga teacher, solo international travel, walking and hiking, rediscovering your inner child, finding new hobbies to try, the frustrating side of meditation, and of course, what happens when you mistake a mango for a custard apple. You too really can find something every day to be happy about

From one of Germany’s finest writers comes a wonderfully light and humorous novel set during the tumultuous events of 1989. A wobbling Hungary has just opened its borders to Austria enabling a flood of refugees to escape, the Berlin Wall is on the cusp of falling, and, yet, seemingly sheltered from this onrushing new world in their idyllic East German home are Adam, a tailor and dressmaker who enjoys a life of dressing (and undressing) his appreciative clientele, and Evelyn, Adam’s restless girlfriend. Having just unexpectedly quit her job as a waitress, Evelyn returns home one day to find Adam sleeping with one of his customers. Calmly, but quickly, Evelyn packs her belongings and runs off to Hungary on a vacation she had originally planned to take with Adam. Accompanying Evelyn on her journey is her friend Simone and Michael, Simone’s West German cousin. In hot pursuit, however, to everyone’s surprise or dismay, is Adam. Following the group in his family’s rickety 1961 Communist-made automobile, Adam chases after Evelyn, banishing himself from his Garden of Eden as she pursues her very own idea of heaven. As Adam and Evelyn are swept out on a Western tide of new freedoms—helping refugees and helping themselves to impetuous trysts with others along the way—they find themselves forced to adjust to life in a world forever changed. Paradise regained? Perhaps not. Upending our expectations from the start, Adam and Evelyn is a deceptively simple love story that will enthrall longtime readers and those new to the delights of Ingo Schulze’s stories alike.

This volume brings together two very popular and active research fields: Swiss Studies and Intercultural Studies. It includes contributions on the movement of ideas, literatures, and individuals from one culture to another or one language to another, and the ways in which they have been either assimilated or questioned. All of the writers explore this general theme; some come from a literary angle, some look at linguistic inventiveness and translation, whilst others study the problems faced when crossing geographical and cultural borders or presenting ideas which do not `travel¿ well. By emphasising the connections, borrowings and mutual influences between Switzerland and other countries such as Germany, Hungary, France, the UK, and the Americas, the articles reaffirm the importance for Switzerland of intellectual openness and cultural exchange. Barbara Burns is Senior Lecturer in German at the University of Glasgow. She has published books and articles on a number of nineteenth-century German writers including Theodor Storm, Detlev von Liliencron, Louise von François and Adolf Müllner, and also has an interest in Swiss Studies, in particular the work of Eveline Hasler on which she has recently been publishing. She is Germanic Editor of the MHRA journal The Year¿s Work in Modern Language Studies. Joy Charnley has co-edited eight volumes of essays on Swiss literatures and history with Malcolm Pender and in 1996 they co-founded the Centre for Swiss Cultural Studies in Glasgow. She has written books and articles on French-speaking Swiss authors such as Yvette Z¿Graggen, Alice Rivaz, Anne-Lise Grobéty, Anne Cuneo, Janine Massard and Amélie Plume.

Young designers and students are hungry to know what their peers are doing in today's graphic design field. This book showcases many of the best designers in their 20s and 30s who are producing innovative, eye-catching work with posters, book covers and jackets, CD packaging and other music media. Brief interviews with each artist illuminate the ideas behind their work. Next also helps jump-start the creative process by presenting fresh, edgy concepts that designers can't see anywhere else and it's a wonderful tool for older designers, enabling them to get a handle on the visual language understood by younger consumers. Selling points: No other survey book focuses on designers in their 20s and 30s. Includes an introduction by the dean of underground designers, award-winner Art Chantry.