The author looks at life through the eyes of Ernie Mott, an inarticulate London Cockney whose horizon is bounded by mean streets: whose only recreation is the tawdry Fun Fair; whose ambition is to be " in the money" : for whom women are a source of tantalizing and unsatisfied desire.

One of the most expressive and versatile of the great nineteenth-century Romantic composers, Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky brought a sense of intimacy and emotional power to all of his music — whether for orchestra, opera, ballet, or art song. Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians remarks on the characteristic charm of Tchaikovsky's songs, noting their "penetrating sweetness and sadness" as well as their "vocal excellence." In addition to the celebrated title work, this collection presents a rich selection of 40 enchanting melodies, including Don Juan's Serenade, Mignon's Song, Night of Stars, Serenade, Song of the Gipsy Girl, and other exquisite pieces for voice and piano. Featured texts by Goethe, Heine, Tolstoy, and other great poets appear in English and either German or French.

Rich selection of 40 charming works includes celebrated title song plus Don Juan's Serenade, Mignon's Song, Night of Stars, Serenade, Song of the Gipsy Girl, and other exquisite pieces for voice and piano.

"In this splendid volume, Richard Sylvester treats Tchaikovsky's songs with great sympathy and understanding, with special emphasis on relating the texts to the music. The songs are presented chronologically, interspersed with insightful observations about their relevance to the composer's life. This book will be welcomed by performers and scholars, but its fluent readability and avoidance of unnecessary detail make it easily accessible to the general reader. A welcome bonus is a CD with 22 songs interpreted by outstanding singers of at least two generations." --George Jellinek, author, critic, and host of WQXR's nationally syndicated program The Vocal Scene

Presents a collection of powerful monologues for actors, written by the decade's most influential and popular dramatists from the United States and Great Britain.

From the two-time Giller Prize shortlisted author, a dazzling circus of a novel set in the seductive underside of Montreal and New York between the wars Two babies are abandoned in a Montreal orphanage in the winter of 1910. One is a girl named Rose; the other, a boy named Pierrot. Each display rare gifts that bring them adoration and hatred. As they are made to travel around the city performing clown routines to raise funds for the orphanage, they make plans for a sensational future. They are separated as teenagers and sent off to work as menial servants, but both soon find themselves escaping into the criminal world, participating in the vicious and absurd and perverted underbelly of Montreal and New York City between the wars. They search for each other, and one night, under the snowflakes, they reunite, and the underworld will never look quite the same. With all the storytelling skill and magical language for which she is known, Heather O’Neill dazzles us with a new tale of motherless gangsters, drug addicted pianists, radicalized chorus girls and a city whose economy hinges on the price of a kiss.