National Network for Equitable Library Service

"Nobody writes more astutely or affectingly about [love]... than Penelope Lively." — The Washington Post. An intelligent examination of alternative destinies, choices, and the moments in our lives when we could have chosen a different path, from Booker Prize-winning author Penelope Lively. In this fascinating piece of fiction, Penelope Lively takes moments from her own life and asks "what if" she had made other choices: What if she hadn't escaped from Alexandria at the outbreak of WWII? What would her life have been like if she had become pregnant when she was 18?

Ivan E. Coyote has developed a reputation as one of North America's most disarming storytellers; their tales of life as a queer person on the roads and trails of the North as well as rural America are rich in their plainspoken, honest truths. In Loose End, their third story collection, Ivan focuses their attention on the city—urban life, specifically in the East End of Vancouver, a diverse neighborhood of all types—old, young, gay, straight, white, Black, Asian—communing at local coffee bars over hot rods, the art of skinny-dipping, and changes in the weather.

Louis Leduc sait qu’un grand destin l’attend. Longtemps, on se souviendrait de son nom. Entre engagement politique, voyages autour du globe et amour de la lecture, découvrez sa vie. Extrait : « Très tôt Louis aspira à une vie plus grande que la vie. Son souverain prénom l’y prédisposait-il ? Pour le moins il ne se laisserait pas assigner au peu. Louis le bien nommé transcenderait son plat destin de mortel.

Première partie : Le visage Deuxième partie : L'immortalité Troisième partie : La lutte Les sœurs. Les lunettes noires. Le corps. L'addition et la soustraction. La femme plus âgée, l'homme plus jeune. Le onzième commandement. L'imagologie. Le brillant allié de ses fossoyeurs. L'âne intégral. La chatte. Le geste de protestation contre les atteintes aux droits de l'homme. Être absolument moderne. Être victime de sa gloire. La lutte. Le professeur Avenarius. Le corps. Le geste du désir d'immortalité. L'ambiguïté. La voyante. Le suicide.

Onze voix, onze personnages racontent la fin de l'amour. Comment tout cela est-il arrivé ? Agacements, baisers distraits, affrontements, histoires ratées avant d'avoir commencé, c'est le couple mis à nu, sans les artifices de la fiction. Le couple déchiré et meurtri, quand l'autre n'est plus désiré ou qu'il ne nous désire plus. Quand la conversation amoureuse fait place au monologue et aux reproches. On ne se supporte plus, on ne rêve plus ensemble, on va se séparer. On va parler aux enfants.

A masterpiece of 20th-century Russian literature-now in its first complete English translation. "One of the greatest Russian writers of short stories" chronicles life in a Soviet gulag, drawing on his own years in a USSR prison camp and laying bare the perils of totalitarianism (Financial Times). Kolyma Stories is a masterpiece of twentieth-century literature, an epic array of short fictional tales reflecting the fifteen years that Varlam Shalamov spent in the Soviet Gulag.

Junglee (stemming from the Sanskrit root "jungle") is used in India to label the wild, the uncivilized, the untamed. Used most commonly as condemnation or censure, it aims to break the spirit of women yearning for personal power. The female protagonists in these eleven stories recklessly pursue their sensual paths through a complex social world that seeks to shut them out.

A new story collection from "one of Europe's most exciting writers" (New York Times Book Review) deftly evokes and explores the shifts that occur when the world grows dark. Snowed in at a remote artists' residency in Vermont, Peter recalls another Christmas some thirty years earlier, when he met Marcia by chance on a trip to New York City. Only now, in this eerie, isolated place, does he begin to see the consequences of their brief affair through a series of connections. When Hubert asks Sabrina to model for a sculpture, she's flattered and happy to help.

Gene Wolfe may be the single best writer in fantasy and science fiction of his generation. From The Book of the Long Sun to The Book of the New Sun series, to his impressive short fiction oeuvre, Innocents Aboard gathers fantasy and horror stories from the last decade that have never before been in a Wolfe collection.

This collection of short stories by Bernard Malamud includes: Idiots First, Black Is My Favorite Color, Still Life, The Death of Me, A Choice of Profession, Life Is Better Than Death, The Jewbird, Naked Nude, The Cost of Living, The Maid’s Shoes, Suppose a Wedding, and The German Refugee.