At first, all Lily Austin knows about 19th–century explorer Mary Kingsley is that, 100 years before, she was the first white woman to venture into the heart of Africa. But as Lily begins reading about Mary Kingsley, she becomes more and more fascinated – and discovers in Mary a kindred spirit. In her own life, Lily feels trapped – on the one hand, she craves family and intimate connection; on the other hand, she has no healthy or satisfying role models. Consequently, as she nears graduation from the University of Virginia, she finds herself uncertain about what to do with her life. As she researches Mary's life – she has begun writing a play about her – Lily comes to witness Mary's incredible bravery and startling originality, qualities that prove inspirational to Lily, whose own bravery is required as she attempts to navigate dysfunctional and destructive relationships with her young husband, her extended family – and a legacy of abuse dating back to her childhood.

Sisterly bonds, dark desires, and terrible secrets converge in this “tale of scorching family dysfunction that ranges among the gothic, domestic, and carnal” (Publishers Weekly). Summoned to their magnificent family home on the shores of Lake Ontario—a paradisiacal mansion perched on an escarpment above the city—three adult sisters come together in what seems like an act of family solidarity. Pregnant and unwell, the youngest has left her husband and four young children in New Zealand and returned home to heal. But while their home features immaculate gardens the likes of which few could imagine possessing, it is also a place of trauma and vengeance, where family togetherness leads to feasting on each other’s sexual appetites and weaknesses. Each daughter has her own particular taste, and overlaying everything is their parents, with unquenchable cravings of their own. As the affluent family endures six intense days in one another’s company, old fissures reappear. When long-buried truths finally come to light, the sisters and their parents must face the unthinkable consequences of their actions.

“Surprising. Impressive. Cannibalism restores my faith in humanity.” —Sy Montgomery, The New York Times Book Review For centuries scientists have written off cannibalism as a bizarre phenomenon with little biological significance. Its presence in nature was dismissed as a desperate response to starvation or other life-threatening circumstances, and few spent time studying it. A taboo subject in our culture, the behavior was portrayed mostly through horror movies or tabloids sensationalizing the crimes of real-life flesh-eaters. But the true nature of cannibalism--the role it plays in evolution as well as human history--is even more intriguing (and more normal) than the misconceptions we’ve come to accept as fact. In Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History,zoologist Bill Schutt sets the record straight, debunking common myths and investigating our new understanding of cannibalism’s role in biology, anthropology, and history in the most fascinating account yet written on this complex topic. Schutt takes readers from Arizona’s Chiricahua Mountains, where he wades through ponds full of tadpoles devouring their siblings, to the Sierra Nevadas, where he joins researchers who are shedding new light on what happened to the Donner Party--the most infamous episode of cannibalism in American history. He even meets with an expert on the preparation and consumption of human placenta (and, yes, it goes well with Chianti). Bringing together the latest cutting-edge science, Schutt answers questions such as why some amphibians consume their mother’s skin; why certain insects bite the heads off their partners after sex; why, up until the end of the twentieth century, Europeans regularly ate human body parts as medical curatives; and how cannibalism might be linked to the extinction of the Neanderthals. He takes us into the future as well, investigating whether, as climate change causes famine, disease, and overcrowding, we may see more outbreaks of cannibalism in many more species--including our own. Cannibalism places a perfectly natural occurrence into a vital new context and invites us to explore why it both enthralls and repels us.

Special 20th Anniversary Edition When Marilyn Monroe died in October 2003, she left behind the first volume of her memoirs (1926 to 1962), award-winning performances, and the memories of a thirty-five-year marriage. Now, after two and a half years of intensive research, (including interviews with noted figures such as Jane Fonda and Hilary Clinton, as well as Marilyn’s children, friends, and co-workers), a detailed accounting of the second half of this incredible life can be told. Utilizing exclusive access to her personal papers granted by her family, Life Among the Cannibals 1962-2003 chronicles not only Monroe’s response to the war and assassinations of the Sixties, her encounters with the likes of Janis Joplin, Pat Nixon, and Mikhail Gorbachev, but traces her evolution from sex symbol to Hollywood’s Conscience. Above all, now in a special 20th Anniversary Edition, Life Among the Cannibals puts an end to the innuendo and speculation surrounding the life and career of one of the 20th century’s most beloved figures. “Instead of mourning what was lost, Marshall celebrates what should have been. With this highly entertaining book, Marshall gives Marilyn Monroe the second act she surely deserved.” Author Tara Hanks “David’s book is absolutely terrific and well deserves a space on your bookshelves. I promise you won’t be disappointed.” Biographer Michelle Morgan “David Marshall has given us all a wonderful gift; a joyful chance to see what SHOULD have been, what COULD have been, as Marilyn makes her way through the rest of the 2Oth century, gaining the personal happiness and respect she always yearned for, forging friendships with some of the most influential figures of our time - and always remaining our beloved Marilyn.” Online Reviewer Mickey52 Cover Photograph of Suzie Kennedy by Chris Bissell

At the age of twenty-six, Maarten Troost—who had been pushing the snooze button on the alarm clock of life by racking up useless graduate degrees and muddling through a series of temp jobs—decided to pack up his flip-flops and move to Tarawa, a remote South Pacific island in the Republic of Kiribati. He was restless and lacked direction, and the idea of dropping everything and moving to the ends of the earth was irresistibly romantic. He should have known better. The Sex Lives of Cannibals tells the hilarious story of what happens when Troost discovers that Tarawa is not the island paradise he dreamed of. Falling into one amusing misadventure after another, Troost struggles through relentless, stifling heat, a variety of deadly bacteria, polluted seas, toxic fish—all in a country where the only music to be heard for miles around is “La Macarena.” He and his stalwart girlfriend Sylvia spend the next two years battling incompetent government officials, alarmingly large critters, erratic electricity, and a paucity of food options (including the Great Beer Crisis); and contending with a bizarre cast of local characters, including “Half-Dead Fred” and the self-proclaimed Poet Laureate of Tarawa (a British drunkard who’s never written a poem in his life). With The Sex Lives of Cannibals, Maarten Troost has delivered one of the most original, rip-roaringly funny travelogues in years—one that will leave you thankful for staples of American civilization such as coffee, regular showers, and tabloid news, and that will provide the ultimate vicarious adventure.

This new edition of Southern Writers assumes its distinguished predecessor's place as the essential reference on literary artists of the American South. Broadly expanded and thoroughly revised, it boasts 604 entries-nearly double the earlier edition's-written by 264 scholars. For every figure major and minor, from the venerable and canonical to the fresh and innovative, a biographical sketch and chronological list of published works provide comprehensive, concise, up-to-date information. Here in one convenient source are the South's novelists and short story writers, poets and dramatists, memoirists and essayists, journalists, scholars, and biographers from the colonial period to the twenty-first century. What constitutes a "southern writer" is always a matter for debate. Editors Joseph M. Flora and Amber Vogel have used a generous definition that turns on having a significant connection to the region, in either a personal or literary sense. New to this volume are younger writers who have emerged in the quarter century since the dictionary's original publication, as well as older talents previously unknown or unacknowledged. For almost every writer found in the previous edition, a new biography has been commissioned. Drawn from the very best minds on southern literature and covering the full spectrum of its practitioners, Southern Writers is an indispensable reference book for anyone intrigued by the subject.

SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2021 ‘Outrageous satire . . . extremely funny, weirdly touching’ – Guardian ‘A work of genius’ – Scotsman ‘Close-to-the-knuckle farce with a big beating heart’ – Daily Mail This is the story of an unusual family. Though they are nothing like yours, you will recognize them. They are the last Cannibal-Americans. And they have a problem. When their mother dies, twelve children gather to dispose of the body in the traditional manner . . . by eating it. But can they follow the ancient rituals of consumption? Is their unique cultural heritage worth preserving if it's this gross? And what about dietary requirements - one of them is vegan. Surely it can't be this hard to do the right thing? Mother for Dinner is a dark comedy about modern life and its many difficulties.

“A first-rate collection of novellas that will break your heart and fill you with hope at the same time.” —Denver Rocky Mountain News In the tradition of William Faulkner and Gabriel Garcia Marquez comes Wives and Lovers, from the author the Boston Globe calls “One of the most expert and substantial of our writers.” Requisite Kindness—published here for the first time—tells the story of a man who must comes to terms with a life of treating women badly when he goes to live with his sister and dying mother. Rare and Endangered Species demonstrates how a wife and mother’s suicide reverberates in the small community where she lives, and affects the lives of people who don’t even know her. Finally, Spirits is about the pain that men and women can—and do—inflict upon each other. Three very different stories that illuminate the unadorned core of love—not the showy, more celebrated sort, but what remains when the more ephemeral emotions such as lust, jealousy, and passion have been stripped away.

“Unlike me, life isn’t always pretty,” says Tiffany Spratt—a cheerleader destined for fame who will do anything to get there Tiffany is definitely glad that the best-looking boy in the universe just transferred to her high school. Her boyfriend, Wally, got caught hacking into the Pentagon’s computer system and was sent to boarding school, so she almost didn’t have a date for the Homecoming dance! But Tiffany knows that she’ll look fabulous next to her new boyfriend, Cannibal MacLaine—at least she thinks he said his name was Cannibal. Sure, it’s an incredibly unusual name, but then, he is from Los Angeles. Then something even more exciting happens: A major Hollywood director wants to film a horror movie right in their school! Not everyone is as pleased as Tiffany though—in fact, her own mother is leading protests against the plan—but Tiffany is Head Yell Leader at Hi High, so she gets the chamber of commerce on her side. The movie studio signs the contract, and everything is going to be perfect . . . if it doesn’t turn into a perfect nightmare first.