THE SECOND SHOT OF SURPRISES: 二刻拍案惊奇


Book Description

After compilation of “The First Shot of Surprises" (初刻拍案惊奇), “The Second Shot of Surprises" (二刻拍案惊奇, Erke Paian Jingqi) is a collection of short stories in the Ming Dynasty of China . It was written by Ling Xiaochu at the end of the Ming Dynasty . It is a collection of short stories written under the direct influence of "Sanyan, or three words", and later called "Three Words" and " Two shots (with another “The First Shot of Surprises" with same style published before) collectively. "Three Words" refers to "Yu Shi Ming Yan, Clear Words to Understand the World", "Jing Shi Tong Yan, Warnings of the World", "Xing Shi Heng Yan, Constant Words Awakening the World", three collection of short stories in ancient China.




A Companion to Rainer Werner Fassbinder


Book Description

A Companion to Rainer Werner Fassbinder is the first of its kind to engage with this important figure. Twenty-eight essays by an international group of scholars consider this controversial director's contribution to German cinema, German history, gender studies, and auteurship. A fresh collection of original research providing diverse perspectives on Fassbinder’s work in films, television, poetry, and underground theatre. Rainer Werner Fassbinder remains the preeminent filmmaker of the New German Cinema whose brief but prolific body of work spans from the latter half of the 1960s to the artist’s death in 1982. Interrogates Fassbinder’s influence on the seminal ideas of his time: auteurship, identity, race, queer studies, and the cataclysmic events of German twentieth century history Contributions from internationally diverse scholars specializing in film, culture, and German studies. Includes coverage of his key films including: Gods of the Plague (1970), Beware of a Holy Whore (1971), The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972), Martha (1973) (TV), World on a Wire (1973), Effi Briest (1974), Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974), Fox and His Friends (1975), Fear of Fear (1975), Chinese Roulette (1976), In a Year With 13 Moons (1978), Despair (1978), The Third Generation (1979), Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) (TV), and Querelle (1982).







The Lonesome Dove Series


Book Description

The timeless, bestselling four-part epic that began with the Pulitzer Prize-winning Lonesome Dove takes readers into the lives of Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call, two tough-as-nails Texas Rangers in the heyday of the Old West. Dead Man’s Walk As young Texas Rangers, Augustus McCrae and Woodrow Call—"Gus" and "Call" for short—have much to learn about survival in a land fraught with perils: not only the blazing heat and raging tornadoes, roiling rivers and merciless Indians, but also the deadly whims of soldiers. On their first expeditions—led by incompetent officers and accompanied by the robust, dauntless whore known as the Great Western—they will face death at the hands of the cunning Comanche war chief Buffalo Hump and the silent Apache Gomez. They will be astonished by the Mexican army. And Gus will meet the love of his life. Comanche Moon Texas Rangers August McCrae and Woodrow Call, now in their middle years, are still figuring out how to deal with the ever-increasing tensions of adult life—Gus with his great love, Clara Forsythe, and Call with Maggie Tilton, the young whore who loves him—when they sign up to pursue the Comanche horse thief Kicking Wolf into Mexico. On this mission, their captain, Inish Scull, is captured by the brutally cruel Mexican bandit Ahumado, and Gus and Call must come to the rescue, with the aid of new friends including Joshua Deets, Jake Spoon, and Pea Eye Parker, as well as the renowned Kickapoo tracker, Famous Shoes. Lonesome Dove Gus and Call, now retired from the Texas Rangers and settled in the border town of Lonesome Dove running the Hat Creek Cattle Company, are visited by their old friend Jake Spoon, who convinces Gus and Call to gather a herd of cattle and drive them north to Montana in order to start a cattle ranch in untouched territory. Gus is further motivated by a desire to see the love of his life, Clara Allen (previously Clara Forsythe), who now lives with her children and comatose horse-trader husband in Ogallala, Nebraska. On the way to Montana they travel through wild country full of thieves, murderers, and a lifetime's worth of unforgettable adventure. Streets of Laredo Woodrow Call is back in Texas, a Ranger once again and a general gun-for-hire, but increasingly a relic as the westward sprawl of the railroads rapidly settles the once lawless frontier. Hired by a railroad tycoon to hunt down a dangerous bandit named Joey Garza, Call sets out once again with a hapless Yankee named Ned Brookshire who works for the railroad company that hired Call. Call's old friend Pea Eye Parker—who initially refused to join the expedition because of his family—sets off with the Kickapoo tracker Famous Shoes to try to catch up with Call, until he runs into troubles of his own. The long pursuit of Garza leads them all across the last wild stretches of the West into a hellhole known as Crow Town and, finally, into the vast, relentless plains of the Texas frontier.




A Mile High Surprise


Book Description

Sarah Baxter made the only choice she could when she ended things with sexy billionaire Tyler Corrigan. At least she learned something from the experience—that she’s not a woman who wants to depend on others for her success. So she’s starting her own business. Problem is, she has to see Tyler Corrigan one last time if she’s going to succeed... This story is part of A Mile High Romance: The Complete Collection.




Sweet Texas Surprise


Book Description

MULTIPLE COMPLICATIONS Sweet Callahan Homecoming Ashlyn Callahan has always known she would bring danger to Rancho Diablo. That’s why she runs from the cowboy she loves to hide out in Texas Hill Country. But all hell breaks loose when Xavier Phillips finds her…and her four newborn babies. With the future of Ash’s clan at stake, Xav is ready to lay his life on the line to safeguard the family legacy—and create a homecoming worthy of his Callahan bride! The Secret Agent’s Surprises Secret agent Pete Morgan came back to Texas to collect his inheritance and found a family waiting for him—orphaned quadruplets in need of a home! To adopt them, Pete needs a wife. A temporary engagement to Priscilla Perkins could be the ideal solution. Priscilla may not think Pete is husband material, but he knows she’d make a great mom. With five angels stealing his heart, it’s a scenario no man can resist.




History of Literature in the Ming Dynasty


Book Description

The book is the volume of “History of Literature in the Ming Dynasty” among a series of books of “Deep into China Histories”. The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC) and the Bamboo Annals (296 BC) describe a Xia dynasty (c. 2070–1600 BC) before the Shang, but no writing is known from the period The Shang ruled in the Yellow River valley, which is commonly held to be the cradle of Chinese civilization. However, Neolithic civilizations originated at various cultural centers along both the Yellow River and Yangtze River. These Yellow River and Yangtze civilizations arose millennia before the Shang. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest civilizations, and is regarded as one of the cradles of civilization.The Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC) supplanted the Shang and introduced the concept of the Mandate of Heaven to justify their rule. The central Zhou government began to weaken due to external and internal pressures in the 8th century BC, and the country eventually splintered into smaller states during the Spring and Autumn period. These states became independent and warred with one another in the following Warring States period. Much of traditional Chinese culture, literature and philosophy first developed during those troubled times.In 221 BC Qin Shi Huang conquered the various warring states and created for himself the title of Huangdi or "emperor" of the Qin, marking the beginning of imperial China. However, the oppressive government fell soon after his death, and was supplanted by the longer-lived Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD). Successive dynasties developed bureaucratic systems that enabled the emperor to control vast territories directly. In the 21 centuries from 206 BC until AD 1912, routine administrative tasks were handled by a special elite of scholar-officials. Young men, well-versed in calligraphy, history, literature, and philosophy, were carefully selected through difficult government examinations. China's last dynasty was the Qing (1644–1912), which was replaced by the Republic of China in 1912, and in the mainland by the People's Republic of China in 1949.Chinese history has alternated between periods of political unity and peace, and periods of war and failed statehood – the most recent being the Chinese Civil War (1927–1949). China was occasionally dominated by steppe peoples, most of whom were eventually assimilated into the Han Chinese culture and population. Between eras of multiple kingdoms and warlordism, Chinese dynasties have ruled parts or all of China; in some eras control stretched as far as Xinjiang and Tibet, as at present. Traditional culture, and influences from other parts of Asia and the Western world (carried by waves of immigration, cultural assimilation, expansion, and foreign contact), form the basis of the modern culture of China.




Element of Surprise


Book Description

Canadian Travis Kelland was 20 years old when Germany invaded Poland to start World War II. Travis was also the only son and heir to Sir Charles Kelland, a wealthy and powerful businessman whose vast holdings stretched across many provinces of Canada. Sir Charles was grooming young Travis to eventually take the reins of the Kelland empire. However, Travis had other plans. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy and set forth on a grand adventure to fight the Nazis. Of course, Travis was in for a rude awakening. He joined the MTB's (Motor Torpedo Boats) squadrons fighting in the Channel and the North Sea and was immediately faced with death and destruction, winning the DSO from the King himself. Yet Travis was a survivor too. After proving himself in combat, he is transferred to the Mediterranean and took command of his own MTB based out of Alexandria, Egypt. In this theatre of operations, his crew fight Germans and Italians, constantly faced with overwhelming odds and the constant threat of Rommel. These are the adventures of MTB 545, from 1940?1945, spanning the desperate years to the days just prior to the D-Day invasion.




October Surprise


Book Description