Short stories and sketches of Bristol, Edinburgh and... er, San Francisco. Andy Gibb is not the Andy Gibb but his website would beg to differ and he did have the name first so he's sticking to it. Back in the Bristol area since 2009, writing since 2004 and a birder since 1995, Andy first came to the city as a student in 1974. Yup, he's ancient as Hell and has been around a bit - Italy, Arizona, California, Australia and New Zealand. And what's it taught him? Not a lot but he has seen 1,089 bird species.

Meet the Thief who has an extraordinary thirst for stealing things beyond your imagination, meet the book collector with a unique obsession, eavesdrop on two Friends as they discuss the end of the world and accompany a man in search of a miracle cure for writer’s block. Take a tour along with ordinary women and men placed in extraordinary situations in this collection of short stories. Dive deep and be intrigued by both the magical and mundane. Lose yourself in a world much like ours but slightly stranger than our normal lives.

In this quasi-French farce masquerading as a novel, we meet Courtney Farquhar Tremayne, one hundred years young in the year 2000 and writing his memoirs about his ten odd (and you can believe that they were exceedingly odd) years touring with a second-rate vaudeville troupe (from approximately 1926 to 1936). Meet all of the interesting characters he knew from that magical medium now long departed. There are Bud and Boz, a dog act (Bud is the trainer and Boz the dog, although it was said that some were loathe to tell the difference). Then, there is one of the strangest acts ever to be seen on the vaudeville stage, Nick Knack Paddywack and his Knockabout Kids, a family acrobatic and comedy act. Meet Malachi and Alewyn Malarkey, Irelands version of George Burns and Gracie Allen. Also on board is Charles Mammy Kaufman, a blackface minstrel singer (a type of act no longer seen on any stage) whose not-so-secret secret is that he is, contrary to the convention of the day for these mammy singers, actually black. Then, there is Kelfer Milius, the pompous star actor of the show. And lastly is the beautiful and alluring (to Courtney, anyway) Prudence Bernadette, the shows star actress. Follow them and all these other vaudeville misfits on their ten-year excursion throughout countless Midwestern cow towns and backwater hamlets, where they ply their trade and, more often than not, find themselves in sometimes precarious, yet always comic, circumstances beyond their control.

Autobiographical reminiscences of an Indian civil servant.

This is a story about one man's struggle to overcome class discrimination, poverty, and abandonment in order to achieve success, wholeness, and recognition. It does not always make light reading, but as with anything in life, there are humorous elements. A mixture of narrative storytelling and academic investigation provides the necessary balance for discussing a difficult subject. From earliest childhood memories, the reader is taken through the commotion of school life and ultimately beyond into the world of work. There is a gradual reversal of roles, as the ideas applied to the writer in his youth are turned outwards upon his entourage, and subsequently, the rest of society. One need not always agree; but hopefully the book will provide at the very least food for thought, and demonstrate the limitations of any idea when taken to the extreme.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “I’ve changed a bit since high school. Back then I said no to using and selling drugs. I washed on a normal basis and still had good credit.” Introducing Laurie Notaro, the leader of the Idiot Girls’ Action-Adventure Club. Every day she fearlessly rises from bed to defeat the evil machinations of dolts, dimwits, and creepy boyfriends—and that’s before she even puts on a bra. For the past ten years, Notaro has been entertaining Phoenix newspaper readers with her wildly amusing autobiographical exploits and unique life experiences. She writes about a world of hourly-wage jobs that require absolutely no skills, a mother who hands down judgments more forcefully than anyone seated on the Supreme Court, horrific high school reunions, and hangovers that leave her surprised that she woke up in the first place. The misadventures of Laurie and her fellow Idiot Girls (“too cool to be in the Smart Group”) unfold in a world that everyone will recognize but no one has ever described so hilariously. She delivers the goods: life as we all know it.

The intellectual and moral history of a clergyman's family.

Davy Rothbart is looking for love in all the wrong places. Constantly. He falls helplessly in love with pretty much every girl he meets—and rarely is the feeling reciprocated. Time after time, he hops in a car and tears across half of America with his heart on his sleeve. He's continually coming up with outrageous schemes, which he always manages to pull off. Well, almost always. But even when things don't work out, Rothbart finds meaning and humor in every moment. Whether it's humiliating a scammer who takes money from aspiring writers or playing harmless (but side-splitting) goofs on his deaf mother, nothing and no one is off-limits. But as much as Rothbart is a tragically lovable, irresistibly brokenhearted hero, it's his prose that's the star of the book. In the tradition of David Sedaris and Sloane Crosley but going places very much his own, his essays show how things that are seemingly so wrong can be so, so right.

In 'The Greatest Children's Books - E. Nesbit Collection', readers are treated to a delightful assortment of fantastical adventures, tales of magical creatures, and journeys into enchanting worlds. Edith Nesbit's literary style is characterized by a combination of whimsical storytelling and rich imagination, making her a beloved author of children's literature. Her work often explores themes of friendship, bravery, and the power of imagination, drawing readers into captivating and immersive settings. Each story is beautifully illustrated, enhancing the magical experience for readers of all ages. The collection offers a timeless and enchanting read, perfect for both children and adults alike. Edith Nesbit, a pioneer of children's literature, drew inspiration from her own childhood experiences and the imaginative world she created to entertain her own children. Her unique perspective and gift for storytelling have made her a cherished author for generations. 'The Greatest Children's Books - E. Nesbit Collection' is a must-read for anyone seeking a charming and magical literary escape, guaranteed to spark the imagination and hearten the spirit.