Fiction. Christopher Cook vividly paints a portrait of small town America in his humorous and often irreverent collection of ten short stories, "Screen Door Jesus". The title story considers the chaos that ensues in Bethlehem, Texas when an image of Jesus appears on Mother Harper's screen door. "And I Beheld Another Beast" features Vernalynn threatening to shoot down a television antenna she insists is sinful. In "Serpent", a woman transforms into a snake for committing a mysterious sin.

When licensed cosmetologist turned publisher's rep Kathy Patrick lost her job due to industry cutbacks, she wasn't deterred. One year later, she opened Beauty and the Book, the world's only combination beauty salon/bookstore. Soon after, she founded The Pulpwood Queens of East Texas -- a reading group that dared to ask the question, "Does a book club have to be snobby to be serious?" The idea spread like wildfire. Now there are about 70 chapters nationwide. The overriding rule -- aside from wearing the club's official tiara, hot pink, and leopard print outfits -- is that the groups must have fun. The club's mission: To get America reading. THE PULPWOOD QUEENS' TIARA-WEARING, BOOK- SHARING GUIDE TO LIFE celebrates female friendship, sisterhood, and the transformative power of reading. It includes life principles and motivational anecdotes, hilarious and heart-warming stories of friendships among the Queens, and stories from Kathy about the books that have inspired her throughout her life, complete with personalized suggested book lists.

This book takes readers on a literary ride across the Lone Star State. J. Frank Dobie tells true stories of rattlesnakes and buried treasure, Jodi Thomas finds romance in the oilfields.

Stories Seen Through Screen Doors The Roots and Branches of Black Southern Experience A truth seldom recognized is that there are almost as many African American southern experiences as there are states and cities in the South. Our lives as southern black people intersect, but they also diverge into unique patterns of learning, growth, and discovery. The stories contained in this collection illustrate some of those similarities as well as the differences. Wanda Macon shares with millions of African Americans a southern soil that is rich in family, church, and racial repression, but she also highlights the spiritedness of a tomboyish young girl, too smart for her preschool age, formed by a variety of occurrences in her small southern community. "The Courts," a horseshoe shaped neighborhood and home to twenty-three families located in fictional Friarsdale, Mississippi, is the site for experience, memory, reflection, and locating one's self in the history of the geography as well as the history of family and community. By Trudier Harris, University Distinguished Research Professor Department of English, The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, Alabama

In the title story, Mrs. Rentería shouts, “David is mine!” as she and her neighbors gather about the dead but handsome young man found in the dry riverbed next to their homes in a Los Angeles barrio. “Since when is his name David?” someone asks, and soon everyone is arguing about the mysterious corpse’s name, throwing out suggestions: Luis, Roberto, Antonio, Henry, Enrique, Miguel, Roy, Rafael. Many of the pieces in this collection take place in a Los Angeles neighborhood that used to be called Frog Town, now known as Elysian Valley. Ron Arias reveals the lives of his Mexican-American community: there’s Eddie Vera, who goes from school yard enforcer to jail bird and finally commando fighting in Central America; a boy named Tom, who chews his nails so incessantly that it leads to painful jalapeño chili treatments, banishment from the neighborhood school and ultimately incarceration in a school for emotionally disturbed kids; and Luisa, a young girl who can’t resist an illicit visit to Don Noriega, an old man the kids call El Mago who is known as a curandero in their neighborhood. Most of the 14 stories included in this volume were originally published in journals that no longer exist, including El Grito: A Journal of Contemporary Mexican-American Thought, Caracol and Revista Chicano-Riqueña. The author of an important novel—The Road to Tamazunchale—published during the Chicano literary movement of the 1970s, Arias was one of the first to use magic realism and connect U.S. Hispanic literature to its more popular, Latin-American cousin. The Wetback and Other Stories finally gathers together and makes available the short fiction of a pioneer in Mexican-American literature. “I felt reading these wonderful stories that I was admitted to an adjacent neighborhood, a rich culture that is another world—call it Amexica—both mysterious and magical, that is persuasive through its tenderness. My hope is that Ron Arias continues to write short stories that tell us who we are.”—Paul Theroux "The Road to Tamazunchale is one of the first achieved works of Chicano consciousness and spirit."— Library Journal

Jesus Told Us Where to Find Him. Just Look for an Outcast. His first followers knew that Jesus could be found with the fatherless, the widows, and the hungry and homeless. He said that he himself was a stranger, and commended those who welcomed him. If he really meant these things, what would happen if you opened your door to every person who came with a need? Jonathan and Leah Wilson-Hartgrove decided to find out. The author and his wife moved to the Walltown neighborhood in Durham, North Carolina, where they have been answering the door to anyone who knocks. When they began, they had little idea what might happen, but they counted on God to show up. In Strangers at My Door, Wilson-Hartgrove tells of risks and occasional disappointments. But far more often there is joy, surprise, and excitement as strangers become friends, mentors, and helpers. Immerse yourself in these inspiring, eye-opening accounts of people who arrive with real needs, but ask only for an invitation to come in. You will never view Jesus and the people he cares about the same way again.

With seven short stories, The Troll Garden is a comprehensive exploration of American artists, and the trials they face. In Flavia and Her Artists, a young woman named Imogen goes to visit her friend Flavia, who is a patron of artists. Joining Flavia’s group of artists, Imogen becomes immersed in the drama and gossip of the group. As Imogen witnesses the animosity of the group steadily grow, she realizes that it stems from Flavia’s own insecurities and arrogance. The Sculptor’s Funeral depicts the funeral of a successful sculptor, Harvey Marrick. When his body is returned to his hometown for his burial, there is a mix of emotions from his family and old acquaintances. Only Jim Lavid, Harvey’s old friend, truly mourns the death. However, Jim must wrestle with both grief and jealousy when he considers that Harvey was able to leave their small town, something Jim himself never could. With a similar tone, A Death in the Desert follows a man as he wrestles with his identity. Sharing a strong physical resemblance to his prodigy brother, Everett Hilgarde feels haunted by his brother’s shadow, robbing him of his sense of self. As the last story in the collection, Paul’s Case creates an echo that stays in the reader’s mind long after the tale is finished. When Paul, a young boy who has trouble fitting in, steals money from his father, he decides to run away to New York, pretending to be rich and fulfilling the life he’d always wanted. The Troll Garden by Willa Cather explores the melancholy tales of tortured artists without dwelling on the sorrow, instead focusing on the relatable instances and decisions that lead to such predicaments. Though first published one-hundred and fifteen years ago in 1905, Cather explores ever-present issues of identity, failure, and dreams that have remained to be relevant to a current audience. As her debut work of fiction, The Troll Garden marks a capstone in Willa Cather’s prolific career. Now presented in an easy-to-read font and with a striking new cover design, this edition of Willa Cather’s The Troll Garden is modern and relevant to a contemporary audience.

Louis Phillips writes and teaches. Mostly he writes. He's published well over forty books, including poems, plays, novels, and short stories. He's published compilations of theatre quotes, TV history, sports nicknames, and jokes. He's a walking encyclopedia of cultural trivia. And he can't stop writing. We're very happy about that. This is the second book of his that we've published, the first being The Woman Who Wrote 'King Lear,' and Other Stories. He lives in New York City.

She’s back! Join everybody’s favourite beer-swilling, chain-smoking, kangaroo-lurving lunatic as she embarks on her first ‘proper’ literary excursion. Violence! Time travel! Midgets! Yes, tremble in fear at Tank Girl: The Novel! Tank Girl and Booga have launched an all-out assault on the town of Chankers, starting with the church. But what prompted this attack? Could it have something to do with Booga’s nightmare vacation there years ago? Well whaddyou think? Destined to become a literary classic — y’know, like Watership Down or something — and a mainstay of high school syllabuses, this is Tank Girl as you’ve never experienced her before: in attractively justified eight point serif.

This collection of stories explores the backroads and unexpected destinations and outcomes of the journey we call life. From the unexpected visitor who joins four friends eating breakfast at Cracker Barrel to a beloved grandfather sharing a long-held secret with his grandson to a desperate single mother with two small children who meets a used car salesman, these and other stories examine the crossroads of hope and despair—where mercy and justice often meet.