The Folly of Loving Life


Book Description

Fiction. Short Stories. Women's Studies. Following her acclaimed novels Clown Girl and The Stud Book, Monica Drake presents her long-awaited first collection of stories. THE FOLLY OF LOVING LIFE features linked stories examining an array of characters at their most vulnerable and human, often escaping to somewhere or trying to find stability in their own place. These stories display the best of what we love about Monica's writing the sly laugh-out-loud humor, the sharp observations, the flawed but strong characters, and the shadowy Van Sant-ish Portland settings. "What can I say about Monica Drake's stories? They are brilliant, sure. They are hilarious, yes. Each one is a marvel. But more importantly-they are raw and awake and full of life. At the center of each one is the bright beating heart of what literature can be: Relevant, unusual, entertaining, fascinating, unique. These are not characters-and Drake's is not a voice-that you can ignore or forget."—Pauls Toutonghi"




The Stud Book


Book Description

Well-versed in the mating habits of captive animals, Sarah, who studies animal behavior at the zoo, longs to have a baby, while her loyal friends, each dealing with their own parenting issues, discover that the families they forge through shared experience are as important as those inherited through birth.




The Folly of Life


Book Description

Treasure Every Word! "I can hardly imagine you falling asleep while reading, but if you do, the proverbs are bound to color your dreams" "The folly of life" is a book of proverbs containing original sayings by Michael F. Kaufmann. This is his third book in this genre, written - upon request, after the success of his first two books. Smile if you can, laugh if can't "The folly of life" presents an ironic and funny outlook on the true nature of life. It addresses a number of different disciplines which will widen and enrich the readers' perspective on reality. Humor is an intrinsic part of Kaufmann's writing and is either presented directly - "If you're dead serious than you're seriously dead", or indirectly - as an advice "if you want to guarantee the popularity of your next book, be sure to insert in it as many flattering photos of its readers". "Like an exquisite drink" The recommendation of the first few readers was to try and resist the temptation of "swallowing" its pages and finishing it in one read. They suggested to treat the book as if it was an exquisite drink which is treasured and tasted in small doses. Thus, to slowly digest the diversity, to challenge the insights, to smile, laugh and enjoy! The book is an easy read intended for readers who can smile with one eye and shed a tear with the other. Scroll up and grab a copy of this fascinating book today!




A Mad, Wicked Folly


Book Description

In Edwardian London, a girl dreams of being an artist, despite her family's disapproval. Welcome to the world of the fabulously wealthy in London, 1909, where dresses and houses are overwhelmingly opulent, social class means everything, and women are taught to be nothing more than wives and mothers. Into this world comes seventeen-year-old Victoria Darling, who wants only to be an artist—a nearly impossible dream for a girl. After Vicky poses nude for her illicit art class, she is expelled from her French finishing school. Shamed and scandalized, her parents try to marry her off to the wealthy Edmund Carrick-Humphrey. But Vicky has other things on her mind: her clandestine application to the Royal College of Art; her participation in the suffragette movement; and her growing attraction to a working-class boy who may be her muse—or may be the love of her life. As the world of debutante balls, corsets, and high society obligations closes in around her, Vicky must figure out: just how much is she willing to sacrifice to pursue her dreams?




August Folly


Book Description

Angela Thirkell is perhaps the most Pym-like of any twentieth-century author, after Pym herself - Alexander McCall It's August in the Barsetshire village of Worsted, and Richard Tebben, just down from Oxford, is contemplating the gloomy prospect of a long summer in the parental home. But the numerous and impossibly glamorous Dean family - exquisite Rachel, her capable husband and six of their nine brilliant children - have come for the holidays, and their hostess Mrs Palmer plans to rope everyone into performing in her disastrous annual play. Surrounded by the irrepressible Deans, Richard and his sister Margaret cannot help but have their minds broadened, spirits raised and hearts smitten.




Clown Girl


Book Description

Clown Girl lives in Baloneytown, a seedy neighborhood where drugs, balloon animals, and even rubber chickens contribute to the local currency. Against a backdrop of petty crime, she struggles to live her dreams, calling on cultural masters Charlie Chaplin, Kafka, and da Vinci for inspiration. In an effort to support herself and her layabout performance-artist boyfriend, Clown Girl finds herself unwittingly transformed into a "corporate clown," trapping herself in a cycle of meaningless, high-paid gigs that veer dangerously close to prostitution. Monica Drake has created a novel that riffs on the high comedy of early film stars — most notably Chaplin and W. C. Fields — to raise questions of class, gender, economics, and prejudice. Resisting easy classification, this debut novel blends the bizarre, the humorous, and the gritty with stunning skill.




Fifteen Love


Book Description

Mia, a violist, and Will, a tennis player, each relate their feelings about each other, school, friends, and family troubles as they struggle to understand the opposite sex and to survive being fifteen.




Love Finds You in Folly Beach, South Carolina


Book Description

First impressions, thank goodness, really can't be trusted! When marine biologist Holly Leonard agrees to help Parker Brant write a book on giant sea turtles, she expects a charming and charismatic charter boat captain--not the strait-laced, all-business dud who greets her. For his part, Parker is surprised to find that Dr. Leonard is not the matronly grandmother he expected but a blue-eyed beauty who's lively, fun-- and a total klutz. Unfortunately, the harder Holly tries to shed her "Holly Folly" nickname, the clumsier she becomes. Holly's has breezed into Parker's well-ordered world like a hurricane--but will he welcome the disruption?




The Folly of Fools


Book Description

Explores the author's theorized evolutionary basis for self-deception, which he says is tied to group conflict, courtship, neurophysiology, and immunology, but can be negated by awareness of it and its results.




Today is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life


Book Description

Back in 1984, a rebellious,17-year-old, punked-out Ulli Lust set out for a wild hitchhiking trip across Italy, from Naples through Verona and Rome and ending up in Sicily. Twenty-five years later, this talented Austrian cartoonist has looked back at that tumultuous summer and delivered a long, dense, sensitive,and minutely observed autobiographical masterpiece.