Ця антологія представляє тексти американської єврейської короткої прози. Книжка вміщує ціле століття непересічних творів, починаючи з іммігрантської художньої літератури початку XX століття і закінчуючи історіями деяких сучасних письменників. Читати її сторінки — значить знайомитися з чудовою і різноманітною літературною традицією. Видання починається оповіданнями двох важливих письменників-іммігрантів початку XX століття, Аврома Кагана та Анзі Єзєрської. Далі представлені вибрані твори єврейських американських авторів часу новітньої історії: Ісаака Башевіса Зінґера, Сола Беллоу, Ґрейс Пейлі, Тіллі Олсен, Бернарда Маламуда та Філіпа Рота. Завершується антологія оповіданнями сучасних...

Франсин Проуз (1947), одна из самых известных американских писательниц, автор более двух десятков книг — романов, сборников рассказов, книг для детей и юношества, эссе, биографий. В романе «Изменившийся человек» Франсин Проуз ищет ответа на один из самых насущных для нашего времени вопросов: что заставляет людей примыкать к неонацистским организациям и что может побудить их порвать с такими движениями. Герой романа Винсент Нолан в трудную минуту жизни примыкает к неонацистам, но, осознав, что их путь ведет в тупик, является в благотворительный фонд «Всемирная вахта братства» и с ходу заявляет, что его цель «Помочь спасать таких людей, как я, чтобы он не стали такими людьми,...

A dark house. An isolated island. Strange dreams and even stranger visions . . . Jack is spending the summer on a private island far from modern conveniences. No Wi-Fi, no cell service, no one else on the island but a housekeeper and the two very peculiar children in his care. The first time Jack sees the huge black mansion atop a windswept hill, he senses something cold, something more sinister than even the dark house itself. Soon, he feels terribly isolated and alone. Yet he is not alone. The house has visitors - peering in the windows, staring from across the shore. But why doesn't anyone else see them . . . and what do they want? As secrets are revealed and darker truths...

The setting is New York's Little Italy in the 1950s -- a community closely knit by gossip and tradition. This is the story of an extraordinary family, the Santangelos. There is Joseph, the butcher, who cheats in his shop and at pinochle, only to find the deck is stacked against him; his mother, Mrs. Santangelo, who sees the evil eye everywhere and who calls on her saints; and Catherine, his wife, whose determination to raise a modern daughter leads her to confront ancient questions. Finally, there is Theresa, Joseph and Catherine's daughter, whose astonishing discovery of purpose moves the book toward its unpredictable conclusion.

A richly imagined and stunningly inventive literary masterpiece of love, art, and betrayal, exploring the genesis of evil, the unforeseen consequences of love, and the ultimate unreliability of storytelling itself. Paris in the 1920s: It is a city of intoxicating ambition, passion, art, and discontent, where louche jazz venues like the Chameleon Club draw expats, artists, libertines, and parvenus looking to indulge their true selves. It is at the Chameleon where the striking Lou Villars, an extraordinary athlete and scandalous cross-dressing lesbian, finds refuge among the club's loyal denizens, including the rising photographer Gabor Tsenyi, the socialite and art patron Baroness Lily de...

In June, 1942, Anne Frank received a red-and-white checked diary for her thirteenth birthday, just weeks before she and her family went into hiding from the Nazis in an Amsterdam attic. For two years, with ever-increasing maturity, Anne crafted a memoir that has become one of the most compelling, intimate, and important documents of modern history - grappling with the unfolding events of World War II, until the hidden attic was raided in August, 1944. But the diary of Anne Frank, argues Francine Prose, is as much a work of art as an historical record. Through close reading, she marvels at the teenaged Frank's skillfully natural narrative voice, at her finely tuned dialogue and ability to...

What really happened at the back of the bus? Did they, or didn't they? Did she, or didn't she? Something happened to fourteen-year-old Maisie Willard - something involving her three friends, all boys. But their stories don't match, and the rumors spin out of control. Then other people get involved . . . the school, the parents, the lawyers. The incident at the back of the bus becomes the center of Maisie's life and the talk of the school, and, horribly, it becomes news. With just a few words and a touch, the kids and their community are changed forever. From nationally acclaimed author Francine Prose comes an unforgettable story about the difficulties of telling the truth,...

Francine Prose's first collection of stories displays her gift for revealing the mysteries and contradictions at the heart of contemporary life. A young woman, disappointed by her lover, discovers that "what you'd hoped was the start of your life could turn out to be a scene from someone else's porn movie." A college professor is disturbed by his attraction to the physical therapist caring for his dying father. A Manhattan gallery owner baby-sitting her infant nephew watches herself pretending to be her suburban housewife sister. With wit and compassion, Prose's collection reminds us that nothing is as we've foreseen ... not even our own desires.

Two novellas--"Guided Tours of Hell" and "Three Pigs in Five Days"--examine the difficulty of feeling the appropriate emotions about the greatest historical tragedy or the smallest personal sorrow.

The acclaimed New York Times best-selling author weaves an ingenious, darkly humorous, and brilliantly observant story that follows the exploits and intrigue of a constellation of characters affiliated with an off-off-off-off-Broadway children's musical. Mister Monkey - a screwball children's musical about a playfully larcenous pet chimpanzee - is the kind of family favorite that survives far past its prime. Margot, who plays the chimp's lawyer, knows the production is dreadful and bemoans the failure of her acting career. She's settled into the drudgery of playing a humiliating part - until the day she receives a mysterious letter from an anonymous admirer and later, in the middle of a...