Blood and Soap is a breakthrough collection of modern-day fables from a wildly inventive American writer whose fiction has been called "terse and edgy" (Booklist) and "vividly imagined" (Kirkus Reviews). Dinh's gift is for constructing, in the manner of Italo Calvino, simple narratives that quickly frame larger questions; with a poet's timing, the author builds his stories to the one or few climactic sentences that brand them with unforgettable meaning. In one tale, a Vietnamese boy's self-guided, haphazard study of English gives way to a meditation on the universality of language: "Everything seems chaotic at first, but nothing is chaotic. One can read anything: ants crawling on the ground; pimples on a face; trees in a forest." In another story, a man opens a newspaper and sees the photograph of a man he may have murdered, which he impulsively clips, only to feel that in doing so he unwittingly has sealed his crime: "As soon as I finished, I realized what I had done: by cutting my father's likeness out of the newspaper, I had removed him from the world." The collection crescendoes in displays of raw creative power, as in "Eight Plots," a rapid-fire of three- and four-sentence summaries, and the brilliant, impressionistic "!" Blood and Soap is an arresting collection from one of a small number of writers on the vanguard of American fiction.

Bloody Brilliant: How to Develop, Execute, and Clean Up Blood Effects for Live Performance offers methods and techniques for delivering this special effect on the stage. The world of live theatre presents its own set of unique challenges when creating special effects, particularly blood. There are no cropped-view frames, multiple angles, or reshoots – everything is live and in view of the audience. This book provides helpful insight, information, techniques, and tricks for producing reliable and repeatable blood effects, covering everything from design and budgeting to safety and clean-up. Filled with easy-to-follow descriptions and full-color artwork, this text includes: Practical examples of blood effect budgets, outlining not just money but also labor needs. A breakdown of the components for making an original blood recipe, as well as reliable, industry-tested recipes. Options for dispensing blood to create realistic effects for any budget size. A comprehensive wash-testing database of over 500 examples of fabrics and blood combinations. Prop managers and builders in professional, educational, and regional theatre are sure to benefit from the tips outlined in this book.

Discusses the profound power of the blood of Jesus and how important the work that Jesus did at Calvary.

THE SUN, THE SOAP DEALERS, AND THE WASHING MACHINE, Rogelio Garcia Barcala's follow up to both "We are carrying a Tree Right in Front of our Face", and "The Doldrums, Christ, and the Plantanism" is a real jewel in the field of biology. I was reading this book with an enormous interest. Rogelio Garcia Barcala is one of the best philosophers we have in this country, at least in the particular field of biology. This book is full of surprises. Rogelio Garcia Barcala not only is an excellent writer, and a great biologist, he is a discoverer. "The Sun, the Soap Dealers, and the Washing Machine" discovers a whole new world in the field of biology. Now we know why we "breathe, why our "brain" is called "brain", and why the "branches" of a tree are called "branches". This book comes up with so many novelties that makes you tremble. M. Martinez USC University, Los Angeles

Reprint of the original, first published in 1875.