A PIECE OF TAIL That's what Farren Upshire wants… well, actually, he wants the whole tail, taken from a legendary Arabian stallion called Knight. The tail is a talisman with magic powers, among them some curative ones, and Upshire has some problems that need curing… an overabundance of pounds, among them. When people need something, Inverness, New Jersey tailor Lincoln Blackthorne is the man they turn to and in turn Linc generally gets them what they want. Sometimes—like every time he turns around—there's somebody else there trying to do Blackthorne out of what he's after… usually threatening bodily harm and more often than not attempting to make good on the threat. From a very unreserved New Mexico Indian reservation to the frozen Yukon wastes where things heat up, The Tail of the Arabian, Knight is an adventure that will keep you going and on the edge of your seat for far more than a thousand and one nights. (previously published as written by Geoffrey Marsh)

Almost three centuries have passed since the oldest manuscript of The Thousand and One Nights arrived in Europe. Since then, the Nights have occupied the minds of scholars world-wide, in particular the questions of origin, composition, language and literary form. In this book, Muhsin Mahdi, whose critical edition of the text brought so much praise, explores the complex literary history of the Nights, bringing to fruition the search for the archetype that constituted the core of the surviving editions, and treating the fascinating story of the growth of the collection of stories that we now know as The Thousand and One Nights.

Ten stories from the Tales of a Thousand and One Nights, including the well-known ones of Aladdin and the lamp, Ali Baba and the forty thieves, and Sinbad the sailor.

Long before people could turn to books for instruction and amusement, they relied upon storytellers for answers to their questions about life. Africa boasts a particularly rich oral tradition, in which the griot — village historian — preserved and passed along cultural beliefs and experiences from one generation to the next. This collection of 30 timeless fables comes from the storytellers of Nigeria, whose memorable narratives tell of promises kept and broken, virtue rewarded, and treachery punished. Ajapa the Tortoise — a trickster, or animal with human qualities — makes frequent appearances among the colorful cast of talking animals. In "Tortoise Goes Wooing," he learns a valuable lesson in friendship and sharing. Ajapa's further adventures describe how, among other things, he became a chief, acquired all of the world's wisdom, saved the king, tricked the lion, and came to be bald. Recounted in simple but evocative language, these ancient tales continue to enchant readers and listeners of all ages.