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Daedalus Books
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One of the great American iconoclasts holds forth on politics, war, books and writers, and his personal life in a series of conversations — including his last publishedinterview. During his long career Kurt Vonnegut won international praise for his novels, plays, and essays. In this new anthology of conversations with Vonnegut — which collectsinterviews from throughout his career — we learn much about what drove Vonnegut to write and how he viewed his work at the end. From Kurt Vonnegut's LastInterview Is there another book in you, by chance? No. Look, I'm 84 years old. Writers of fiction have usually done their best work bythe time they're 45. Chess masters are through when they're 35, and so are baseball players. There are plenty of other people writing. Let them do it. So what's theold man's game, then? My country is in ruins. So I'm a fish in a poisoned fishbowl. I'm mostly just heartsick about this. There should have been hope. This shouldhave been a great country. But we are despised all over the world now. I was hoping to build a country and add to its literature. That's why I served in World War II, and that's why I wrotebooks. When someone reads one of your books, what would you like them to take from the experience? Well, I'd like the guy — or the girl, ofcourse — to put the book down and think, This is the greatest man who ever lived. |
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Soon to be a major motion picture, The Giver, the 1994 Newbery Medal winner, has become one of the most influential novels of our time. The haunting story centers on twelve-year-old Jonas, who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory does he begin to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his fragile community. Lois Lowry has written three companion novels to The Giver, including Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son. |
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Bernard has never been to dinner at a friend's house before. His mother gives him quite the list of rules to follow — no elbows on the table, put your napkin on your lap, don't talk with food in your mouth, and so on. But Bernard isn't prepared to discover that the Goldsmiths think the table is the best place for elbows and feet, never put their napkins on their laps, and talk with food in their mouths! How will Bernard survive dinner with such an obnoxious crew? This funny picture book about manners and etiquette turns the idea of good manners upside-down. The fresh point of view will be appreciated by both kids and their parents. |
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In the beginning, there was nothing but endless flatness. Then came the Carpet... That's the old story everyone knows and loves. But now the Carpet is home to many different tribes and peoples, and there's a new story in the making. The story of Fray, sweeping a trail of destruction across the Carpet. The story of power-hungry mouls — and of two brothers who set out on an adventure to end all adventures when their village is flattened.It's a story that will come to a terrible end — if someone doesn't do something about it. If everyone doesn't do something about it... First published in 1971, this hilarious and wise novel marked the debut of the phenomenal Sir Terry Pratchett. Years later, Sir Terry revised the work, and this special, collectable, edition includes the updated text, his original color and black-and-white illustrations, and an exclusive story — a forerunner to The Carpet People created by the seventeen-year-old nascent writer who would become one of the world's most beloved storytellers. |
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On September 28, 1983, the discovery of a previously unknown tale by Wilhelm Grimm was reported on the front page of The New York Times. After more than 150 years, the Times noted, Hansel and Gretel, Snow-White, Rumpelstiltskin, and Cinderella will be joined by another Grimm fairy-tale character. The story of dear Mili was preserved in a letter Wilhelm Grimm wrote to a little girl in 1816, a letter that remained in her family's possession for over a century and a half. It tells of a mother who sends her daughter into the forest to save her from a terrible war. The child comes upon the hut of an old man, who gives her shelter, and she repays his kindness by serving him faithfully for what she thinks are three days. Actually, thirty years have passed, but Mili has remained safe, and with the old man's blessing there is still time for a tender reunion with her mother. As for the pictures that interpret Dear Mili — hailed by School Library Journal as gorgeous — they were a milestone in Maurice Sendak's career, the work of a master at the height of his powers. |
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Timed to coincide with the release of the third and final series of the award-winning Downton Abbey, which has attracted audiences of more than 10 million viewers. This Brief Guidecelebrates the Victorian and Edwardian eras that marked the golden age of the English countryhouse: a time when opulence and formality attained a level that would never be matched again. Author Michael Paterson skillfully and entertainingly explores the myths and realities of thisvanished world, both upstairs and down. |
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This is a beautifully illustrated look inside the fascinating world of creepy-crawlies, with stunning three-dimensional pop-ups. Larger-than-life bugs spring from the pages, peek out from behind flaps and hide under tabs, inviting young entomologists to marvel at the mind-boggling variety of arthropod life. What reader can resist is a chance to look inside a cockroach's body to see how it works or open a wasps' nest to see what's inside? Useful information (why does the world need bees?) and scientific trivia (which beetles are strongest and fastest?) pack every page, while exquisite art and dramatic pop-ups bring the world of bugs to life. This is an ideal gift for nature lovers of all ages. |
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From one of our most beloved authors, a fascinating excursion into the history behind the place we call home — now richly illustrated with more than two hundred images in full color Bill Bryson and his family live in a Victorian parsonage in a part of England where nothing of any great significance has happened since the Romans decamped. But, struck one day by the thought that history mostly is masses of people doing ordinary things, he began to consider how very little he knew about the ordinary things in life — most of them found inside his front door. At Home is the bestselling story of Bryson's room-by-room journey around his house, a history of the world written without leaving home. The bathroom provides the occasion for the history of hygiene; the bedroom for an account of sex, death, and sleep; the kitchen for a discussion of nutrition and the spice trade. From architecture to electricity, from food preservation to epidemics, from the telephone to the Eiffel Tower, from crinolines to toilets — and the brilliant, creative, and often eccentric minds behind them — Bryson demonstrates that whatever happens in the world ends up in our houses, in the paint and the pipes and the pillows and every item of furniture. In this handsome new edition of At Home, Bryson's sparkling prose is enhanced by some two hundred carefully curated full-color images. Selected from a wide array of sources, these illustrations vividly bring his fascinating and entertaining domestic adventure to visual life. Bryson has one of the liveliest, most inquisitive minds on the planet, and he is a master at turning the seemingly mundane into an occasion for the most diverting exposition imaginable. When you've finished this book, you'll see your house — and your daily life — in a new and revelatory light. |
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Here stands the Castle de Chevalier, a powerful fortress from the year 1280. It's home to Duke Roland, his family, his brave knights, and his many servants. All it needs is some children to come visit and fill in every room with their reusable stickers, from the busy kitchen to the deep, dark dungeon, and even the fields beyond. At the back of the book, children will find extra activities, including designing their own castle, coloring in a siege scene, making up jousting scenarios, spotting the misfits, and more! It's a fun way to learn about a time long ago. |
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Jack Gladney, head of Hitler studies at the College-on-the-Hill, is afraid of death, as is his wife Babette and his colleague Murray who runs a seminar on car crashes. The author exposes our common obsession with mortality, and Jack and Babette's biggest fear — who will die first? |
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What made Chekhov tick? What served as a source of creative inspiration in his life? In answering these questions, Russian scholar Rosamund Bartlett focuses on the writer’s intimate relationship with the places where he lived and traveled—Taganrog and the southern Russian steppes, Moscow, Petersburg, Siberia, the French Riviera, and Yalta. By looking at his life through the prism of these landscapes, it is possible to gain a far greater insight into one of the most enigmatic writers who ever lived. Chekhov: Scenes from a Life restores the humor and warmth to a man too often seen as merely melancholic, and reminds us why many consider him to be the greatest short-story writer of all time. |
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Jonathan Safran Foer emerged as one of the most original writers of his generation with his best-selling debut novel, Everything Is Illuminated. Now, with humor, tenderness, and awe, he confronts the traumas of our recent history. Nine-year-old Oskar Schell has embarked on an urgent, secret mission that will take him through the five boroughs of New York. His goal is to find the lock that matches a mysterious key that belonged to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11. This seemingly impossible task will bring Oskar into contact with survivors of all sorts on an exhilarating, affecting, often hilarious, and ultimately healing journey. |
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Two magicians shall appear in England. The first shall fear me; the second shall long to behold me The year is 1806. England is beleaguered by the long war with Napoleon, and centuries have passed since practical magicians faded into the nation's past. But scholars of this glorious history discover that one remains: the reclusive Mr Norrell whose displays of magic send a thrill through the country. Proceeding to London, he raises a beautiful woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious, fussy Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician: the brilliant novice Jonathan Strange. Young, handsome and daring, Strange is the very opposite of Norrell. So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men which overwhelms the one between England and France. And their own obsessions and secret dabblings with the dark arts are going to cause more trouble than they can imagine. |
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«New York Times Bestseller * Los Angeles Times Bestseller * Washington Post Bestseller * San Francisco Chronicle Bestseller * Chicago Tribune Bestseller «A story to make you believe in the soul-sustaining power of fiction.»—Los Angeles Times Book Review After the sinking of a cargo ship, a solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild blue Pacific. The only survivors from the wreck are a sixteen-year-old boy named Pi, a hyena, a wounded zebra, an orangutan—and a 450-pound royal bengal tiger. The scene is set for one of the most extraordinary and beloved works of fiction in recent years. Universally acclaimed upon publication, Life of Pi is a modern classic.» |
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Welcome to Castle de Chevalier, home of Duke Roland in the year 1280. The medieval castle is a powerful stronghold that controls and protects the countryside—but it's much more than a fortress filled with soldiers. The lord, his family, and knights all live there in style. This die-cut, castle-shaped book takes children inside, bringing them into the magnificent hall, comfortable chambers, beautiful chapel . . . and dark, scary dungeon! In addition to press-out jousting characters to play with, there are more than 150 flaps that hide fun surprises. Packed with fascinating facts and humorous, child-friendly text, Lift, Look and Learn Castle is a truly novel treatment of a classic historical subject for kids. |
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You're invited to 51 Orchard Mansions, a lavish home in the year 1888. Open this die-cut book to meet the wealthy family that owned this extraordinary house and see how life was lived back in the Victorian era. Go upstairs and downstairs and through its many rooms, from the nursery where the children play to the kitchen where servants prepare the dinner. Lift the flaps to look behind doors, peer inside drawers, and find hidden treasures. Plus, you'll get a full plan of the house, press-out characters to play with, and fun facts—like why most Victorians bathed only once a week and why it took three hours to clean the drawing room! |
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J.M. Barrie's 1904 play Peter Pan and Wendy (and its subsequent variations) about the adventures of a boy who won't grow up and his adventures with Tinker Bell and the Darling children has challenged and delighted illustrators for over a century. Every major children's illustrator seems to have done a version of it, and when one considers the visual possibilities of the story — children flying over London, crocodiles, pirates, mermaids, and a Newfoundland dog as a nanny — it's easy to see why. We have long wanted to publish this story, and in Roy Best's 1931 The Picture Story Book of Peter Pan we've found our Peter. It isn't often that and illustrator can sustain emotional and visual impact through nearly 100 pages, but Best manages it. These illustrations, though over 80 years old, seem preternaturally modern in their coloring and style. This Peter Pan is vibrant, more Disney than Arthur Rackham, but nothing is cheap or commercial. Barrie's tale is given its full due both visually and in the text, adapted from Barrie's play. |
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“I could not believe that I had never heard of this book. It felt as important as Anne Frank’s Diary, only published nearly a hundred years before. . . . The book blew [my] mind: the epic range, the details, the adventure, the horror, and the humanity. . . . I hope my film can play a part in drawing attention to this important book of courage. Solomon’s bravery and life deserve nothing less.” —Steve McQueen, director of 12 Years a Slave, from the Foreword Perhaps the best written of all the slave narratives, Twelve Years a Slave is a harrowing memoir about one of the darkest periods in American history. It recounts how Solomon Northup, born a free man in New York, was lured to Washington, D.C., in 1841 with the promise of fast money, then drugged and beaten and sold into slavery. He spent the next twelve years of his life in captivity on a Louisiana cotton plantation. After his rescue, Northup published this exceptionally vivid and detailed account of slave life. It became an immediate bestseller and today is recognized for its unusual insight and eloquence as one of the very few portraits of American slavery produced by someone as educated as Solomon Northup, or by someone with the dual perspective of having been both a free man and a slave. |
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«In his second novel, from 1959, Kurt Vonnegut revealed his true gifts as a science fiction writer. «The spareness hits you first,» wrote William Deresiewicz in a 2012 retrospective on Vonnegut. «The first page contains 14 paragraphs, none of them longer than two sentences, some of them as short as five words. It's like he's placing pieces on a game board-so, and so, and so.» Vonnegut gives us the bizarre, entangled lives of Malachi Constant, the richest man in 22nd-century America; Winston Niles Rumfoord, a now-disembodied human who knows everything that has happened or will happen; and a robot from Trafalmadore, millions of years old, who needs a spare part for his flying saucer.» |
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