David Sedaris3.4 The book that made Oscar Wilde seem dull: The brilliant, savage, hilarious collection of writings from David Sedaris being reissued with a new cover alongside other classic titles from the Abacus list in our 40th Anniversary year
Welcome to the wonderful world of America's foremost humorist David Sedaris, where learning French, like life, is littered with idiosyncratic delight . . .
'The Italian was attempting to answer the teacher's latest question when the Moroccan student interrupted, shouting, "Excuse me, but what's an Easter?" The teacher called upon the rest of us to explain.
"It is a party for the little boy of God who call his self Jesus."
"He die one day and then he go above of my head to live with his father."
"He weared of himself the long hair and after he die, the first day he come back here for to say hello to the peoples."
"He nice, the Jesus."
Jim Mullen0.0 Finalist for the 2001 Thurber Prize for American Humor a Rocky Mountain News (Denver) Best Book of the Year
Millions of people dream of abandoning the city routine for a simple country life. Jim Mullen was not one of them. He loved his Manhattan existence: parties, openings, movie screenings. He could walk to hundreds of restaurants, waste entire afternoons at the Film Forum, people-watch from his window. Then, one day, calamity.
His wife quits smoking and buys a weekend house in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York -- in a tiny town diametrically opposed to Manhattan in every way. Slowly, however, the man who once boasted, "Life is just a cab away," begins to warm to the place -- manure and compost and strangers who wave and all -- and to embrace the kind of life that once gave him the shakes.
Brett Leveridge0.0 As heard on This American Life and NPR's All Things Considered, Brett Leveridge spins mostly true tales of small-town Lotharios and big-city dreams in a voice that is simultaneously hip and homespun--and utterly his own.
There's something universal in these tales of the dating life, peopled with well-intentioned boys next door, two-timing playboys, and traveling roustabouts with a girl in every town. You'll meet the fellow behind Mom's first arrest; get the unexpurgated truth about winking Bob Wills, the King of Western Swing; and learn why a young woman would consent to see The Eddie Cantor Story six times in two weeks--with six different men. Leveridge holds forth on many other topics as well, offering his decidedly contrarian views on major holidays, hilarious skewerings of television ads, and a bittersweet account of the life of a straight man often presumed to be gay.
Like the best of our current essayists--Roy Blount, Jr., David Sedaris, Sandra Tsing Loh--Leveridge is at once forward-thinking and nostalgic. With his enormously appealing voice and happy knack for taking a commonplace topic and veering off into uncharted territory, Leveridge is, as one scribe put it, "Will Rogers meets Garrison Keillor meets Jack Kerouac."
Men My Mother Dated and Other Mostly True Tales collects the best of Leveridge's work from his award-winning website, BRETTnews, and his long-running Might magazine column; it also boasts ten brand-new, never-before-published installments of Mom's romantic adventures, plus other assorted surprises.
Bill Bryson3.0 A CLASSIC FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF ONE SUMMER
Every time Bill Bryson walks out the door, memorable travel literature threatens to break out. His previous excursion along the Appalachian Trail resulted in the sublime national bestseller A Walk in the Woods. In A Sunburned Country is his report on what he found in an entirely different place: Australia, the country that doubles as a continent, and a place with the friendliest inhabitants, the hottest, driest weather, and the most peculiar and lethal wildlife to be found on the planet. The result is a deliciously funny, fact-filled, and adventurous performance by a writer who combines humor, wonder, and unflagging curiousity.
Despite the fact that Australia harbors more things that can kill you in extremely nasty ways than anywhere else, including sharks, crocodiles, snakes, even riptides and deserts, Bill Bryson adores the place, and he takes his readers on a rollicking ride far beyond that beaten tourist path. Wherever he goes he finds Australians who are cheerful, extroverted, and unfailingly obliging, and these beaming products of land with clean, safe cities, cold beer, and constant sunshine fill the pages of this wonderful book. Australia is an immense and fortunate land, and it has found in Bill Bryson its perfect guide.
Andy Borowitz0.0 When Getting Rich Quick Just Isn't Fast Enough!Many day trading books on the market today contain dubious advice, but never before has there been a book guaranteed to contain 100 percent dubious advice--until now. The Trillionaire Next Door is that book. Inside you'll find:
The rock-solid, scientific principles of day trading explained in language so clear and concise it's almost insulting
A glossary of key economic terms for the day trader, like "mousepad" and "click"
Advice for the long-term investor: which stocks to hold in your portfolio for five, ten, fifteen minutes or more
Confusing, meaningless graphs and charts
Bad math
And much, much more--but since day traders have short attention spans, not too much more.
Henry Alford0.0 In this memoir of Alford's hilarious attempts at becoming a performer, he is rejected by directors, ignored by casting people, abused by a sadistic acting teacher, and educated in the finer points of Shakespearean acting. Finally, Alford finds his niche as the co-host of VH1's new hit series, "Rock of Ages."
