An eclectic collection of spine-tingling, gut-churning, irreverent, dark, fantastical, and sometimes downright hilarious short stories by the Edgar-nominated author of DUST and THE HUNCHBACK ASSIGNMENTS. Slade's writing style has shades of Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, William Gibson, and Ry Cooder. And he has an eye for odd details and macabre situations that is all his own.
Published in 1967 and then extensively revised in 1978, The Ninth Configuration is a fascinating look at madness, philosophy, and the nature of religious belief. William Peter Blatty is most well-known for his novel The Exorcist, and his Academy-award winning screenplay for the movie. He also wrote a sequel to The Exorcist, Legion, and directed Exorcist III as well as the film version of The Ninth Configuration. Mark Kermode is a well-known film scholar and expert on William Peter Blatty's fiction and films.
Harold Bloom's "Poets and Poems" gathers the twenty years' of literary criticism expertise of Harold Bloom (Sterling Professor of the Humanities at Yale University) into a single omnibus dedicates to scrutinizing some of the greatest known poets, including Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Hart Crane, William Shakespeare, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Butler Yeats, and many others.
Birthdays are a time for reflection, especially for Sarah, Duchess of Whitfield, who is awaiting the arrival of her far-flung family. Years earlier, reeling from her pending divorce, Sarah Thompson is force-marched through Europe on the grand tour by her concerned parents. Disinterested in the sons, grandsons, and nephews paraded before her by well-meaning acquaintances, Sarah chances upon William Whitfield, the Duke of Whitfield, 14th in line for succession to the English throne. Disarmed by his wit and intrigued by his intellect, Sarah allows William to become her companion in London, warning him they can only be friends.
A delightful new setting—London—a delightful new cast of characters, and one incredibly clever dog. Corduroy Mansions is the affectionate nickname given to a genteel, crumbling mansion block in London’s vibrant Pimlico neighborhood, and the home turf of a new cast of captivating, quirky, and altogether McCall-Smithian characters. There’s the middle-aged wine merchant William, who’s trying to convince his reluctant twenty-four-year-old son, Eddie, to leave the nest; and Marcia, the restaurant propriatrix who has her sights set on William.
