Dirty Old Man’s Day at the Allotment


Book Description

Dirty Old Mans Day at The allotment Granddad liked taking her up the allotment. She loved it too. There was always fruit to be picked which she loved to do. For him it was about the forbidden fruit. He’d bought her a present and she wanted to show him how gratefull she was. Taster: “Move back a little sweetheart.” He said as he pulled the garage door out and up. Then he went in and over to the corner and grabbed the three quarter sized tools for her, the shovel spade and fork were still wrapped up in the cellophane from the shop. He turned back around and held them up. “Oh Granddad, are they for me?” She squealed then she ran into the garage and threw her arms around him, pressing her little face up against his big belly. He looked down and kissed her on the top of her head right between the cute little pig tails. “Of course my darling.” He said, hugging her head with his free hand. “Are we going to the allotment then?” She asked as she broke her hug and glared at her presents. Even though they were designed for smaller people they were a little over large for her but she cared not. Granddad had bought them for her which meant that he loved her and she loved them, and him too of course. “I think we might just do that, but only if you really want to. Do you really want to?” He teased as he turned her and walked out towards the car his hand on her shoulder. “Oh yes please Granddad can we. PLEASE!” she asked, looking up at him. He smiled back down at her then lifted her into the car. “We should have changed you into a pair of jeans.” He said secretly thanking his stars that she’d stayed dressed in that tiny little almost mini skirt, he liked to watch her try to dig. He let his wrinkly old hands linger on her bare leg for a bit after her boots were all on. “What shall we do first Granddad?” She asked.




More Notes of a Dirty Old Man


Book Description

After toiling in obscurity for years, Charles Bukowski suddenly found fame in 1967 with his autobiographical newspaper column, "Notes of a Dirty Old Man," and a book of that name in 1969. He continued writing this column, in one form or another, through the mid-1980s. More Notes of a Dirty Old Man gathers many uncollected gems from the column's twenty-year run. Drawn from ephemeral underground publications, these stories and essays haven't been seen in decades, making More a valuable addition to Bukowski's oeuvre. Filled with his usual obsessions—sex, booze, gambling—More features Bukowski's offbeat insights into politics and literature, his tortured, violent relationships with women, and his lurid escapades on the poetry reading circuit. Highlighting his versatility, the book ranges from thinly veiled autobiography to purely fictional tales of dysfunctional suburbanites, disgraced politicians, and down-and-out sports promoters, climaxing with a long, hilarious adventure among French filmmakers, "My Friend the Gambler," based on his experiences making the movie Barfly. From his lowly days at the post office through his later literary fame, More follows the entire arc of Bukowski's colorful career. Edited by Bukowski scholar David Stephen Calonne, More Notes of a Dirty Old Man features an afterword outlining the history of the column and its effect on the author's creative development. Born in Andernach, Germany in 1920, Charles Bukowski came to California at age three and spent most of his life in Los Angeles. He died in San Pedro, California, on March 9, 1994.




Insularfield


Book Description

Detective Chief Inspector George Flaxman is a cop on a collision course with destiny. A man ruling the paranoid Nottinghamshire streets of 1996 with his own set of rules. Rules ingrained with unhinged power, menace, violence and intrinsic corruption. Nobody will stand in the way of him getting what he craves: not the aging hitman, or the world renowned novelist; the TV star in hiding, or the anonymous boy next door; not the feisty but vulnerable teenage girl, or the creeping changes to the police department. A field for the law. A field for the villains. Afield of our own. Our insularfield.




Rat-a-tat-tat


Book Description

When Author Ellie Erikson is diagnosed with a rare incurable illness she fears for her future but worse is to come. Paranoia closes around her as her life is threatened from another direction. She is lured to a disused medical institute where her partner Matt is in danger and what she discovers there surpasses any fears she had already imagined. Somebody knows her every move before she makes it. Somebody is out to get her. The gripping climax to Rat-a-tat-tat will give her all the answers but only one of them can survive.




The Boogieman


Book Description

Six-year-old Cameron never believed in the Boogieman. That character was merely fiction, embellished by adults to keep kids in line. Yes, the Boogieman was only a myth—until Cameron’s family moves into the stately old house with the creepy third floor. Already, at the mere age of six, Cameron carries a jaded and cynical perspective on life, so he will never admit to believing in something so childish as the Boogieman. However, he must confess there is a dark presence on the dusty third floor. This presence strikes young Cameron with unspeakable dread. The legend of the Boogieman haunts both Cameron and those around him, but how does one fight a myth? How does one control the wild machinations of a child’s mind?







The Nation


Book Description




Just a Bit Touched


Book Description

The title for this volume was suggested by a remark of the narrator in the opening paragraph of the first story, 'The Arcadian': "They're just a bit touched, bonkers-like." While the characters might appear 'a bit touched,' each tale is touched by its own perspective, since each reflects the point of view of its unique narrator. So often the England of the Thirties or Forties is seen through the eyes of a child so that, Dickens-like, the foibles and characteristics of the adult world appear larger than life. These early stories are interesting, too, for the historical perspective they give us — of an Andy Capp industrial society long since gone. There are other stories written from the perspective of the Fifties: the two stories dealing with motor cars ('The Efelant' and 'Egging-on') add a more amusing perspective — of a time when petrol was dear and neighbours more than a bit touched by curiosity! The stories written in Africa with its latent social change — 'Victims,' for instance — add a more violent perspective, though hilarity is introduced by the expatriot (in 'It Was A Very Sad Case') who seems more than a bit touched by his paranoia. The author has written a quartette of stories, the other three titles of the quartette being News from Parched Mountain: Tales from the Karoo in the new South Africa, Flakes of Dark and Light: Tales From Southern Africa and Elsewhere; and Pivot of Violence: Tales from the new South Africa. All make a very vivid and lasting impression.




The Dead Shall be Raised & The Murder of a Quack


Book Description

Mystery crime fiction written in the Golden Age of Murder "[W]orthy of Agatha Christie at her fiendish plotting best." —Booklist STARRED review Two classic cases featuring Detective Inspector Littlejohn. In the winter of 1940, the Home Guard unearth a skeleton on the moor above the busy town of Hatterworth. Twenty-three years earlier, the body of a young textile worker was found in the same spot, and the prime suspect was never found—but the second body is now identified as his. Soon it becomes clear that the true murderer is still at large... * * * Nathaniel Wall, the local quack doctor, is found hanging in his consulting room in the Norfolk village of Stalden—but this was not a suicide. Against the backdrop of a close-knit country village, an intriguing story of ambition, blackmail, fraud, false alibis and botanical trickery unravels.




Strike the Lutine Bell


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