Vintage Books strana 55 z 69

Etgar Keret is an ingenious and original master of the short story. Radical, witty and always unusual, declared a 'genius' by the "New York Times", Keret brings all of his prodigious talent to bear in this bestselling collection. A man barges into a writer's house and, holding a gun to his head, demands that he tell him a story, something to take him away from the real world. A pathological liar discovers one day that all the lies he tells come true. A young woman finds a zip in her boyfriend's mouth, and when she opens it he unfolds to reveal a completely different man inside. "Suddenly, a Knock on the Door" is at once Keret's most mature and most playful work yet, and establishes him as one of the great international writers of our time.

This title is presented with an introduction by Monica Ali. The love affair between Maurice Bendix and Sarah, flourishing in the turbulent times of the London Blitz, ends when she suddenly and without explanation breaks it off. After a chance meeting rekindles his love and jealousy two years later, Bendix hires a private detective to follow Sarah, and slowly his love for her turns into an obsession.

It begins with a letter from a woman Frank has never met. A pleading letter. A letter that closed his throat. 'Come fast. She be dead if you tarry.' And that is it all it takes.

The leader of a religious cult in Guyana instigates a mass suicide. He succeeds in killing himself and his whole flock of worshippers, save one. In a wood outside Ystad, the police make an horrific discovery: a severed head, and hands locked together in an attitude of prayer. A Bible lies at the victim's side, handwritten corrections and amendments on every page. A string of incidents, including attacks on domestic animals, has been taking place and Inspector Wallander fears that these events could be the prelude to attacks on humans on a much greater scale. Meanwhile Linda Wallander, preparing to join the Ystad police force, arrives at the station. Showing all the hallmarks of her father - the maverick approach, the flaring temper - she becomes involved in the case and in the process is forced to confront a group of extremists bent on punishing the world's sinners.

When Kurt Wallander first appeared in "Faceless Killers", he was a senior police officer, just turned forty, with his life in a mess. His wife had left him, his father barely acknowledged him; he ate badly and drank alone at night. "The Pyramid" chronicles the events that led him to such a place. We see him in the early years, doing hours on the beat whilst trying to solve a murder off-duty; witness the beginnings of his fragile relationship with Mona, the woman he has his heart set on marrying; and learn the reason behind his difficulties with his father. These thrilling tales provide a fascinating insight into Wallander's character, from the stabbing of a neighbour in 1969 to a light aircraft accident in 1989, every story is a vital piece of the Wallander series, showing Mankell at the top of his game. Featuring an introduction from the author, "The Pyramid" is an essential read for all fans of Kurt Wallander.

Zimbabwe, 1980s. The fighting is over and a new era is dawning. For Robert, it's all new. New country, new school, new life. For Ivan, the sound of the guns is still loud. The war may be over but he's ready to fight on. As Robert is drawn slowly into Ivan's destructive web, he begins to question things he'd always held true and, as Ivan's grip tightens, he finds himself caught up in something far more dangerous than he could have imagined.

In "How To Cure a Fanatic" Amos Oz analyses the historical roots of violence and confronts truths about the extremism nurtured throughout society. By bringing us face to face with fanaticism he suggests ways in which we can all respond. In "Help Us to Divorce" he convinces irrefutably that the Israel-Palestinian conflict is primarily a dispute over 'whose house this is'. In his characteristically lucid, intelligent and inspiring prose Amos Oz is unafraid to advocate solutions to the dispute and to espouse his belief that there will, one day, be a resolution to the conflict. 'I'm no longer a European in any sense, except through the pain of my parents and my ancestors, who left forever in my genes a sense of unrequited love for Europe...But if I were a European, I'd be careful not to point the finger at anyone. Instead of calling the Israelis this name or the Palestinians that name, I would do anything I could to help both sides, because both of them are on the verge of making the most painful decision of their history...You no longer have to choose between being pro-Israel or pro-Palestine, you have to be pro-peace'.

A teenage son shoots himself under his parents' bed. They sleep that night unaware he is lying dead beneath them. A stranger turns up at a man's door to persuade him that they must get rid of his ageing mother in order to sell the house. An old man grumbles to his daughter about the unexplained digging and banging he hears under the house at night. As each story unfolds, Amos Oz, builds a portrait of a village in Israel. It is a surreal and unsettling place. Each villager is searching for something, and behind each episode is another, hidden story. In this powerful, hypnotic work Amos Oz peers into the darkness of our lives and gives us a glimpse of what goes on beneath the surface of everyday existence.

The Spangled Mob are no ordinary American gangsters. They prey on the addictions of the wealthy and treat the poor as collateral. Their ruthless desire for power and fierce brotherly loyalty make them deadly and invincible. James Bond must go deep undercover in his urgent new assignment: to destroy their millionaire masterminds, Jack and Seraffimo Spang. But the Spangs' cruel influence is everywhere, from dusty African diamond mines to the frenzied gambling dens of Las Vegas. Can Bond find his men before his cover is blown?

In a suburb on the outskirts of Tokyo, four teenage girls drift through a hot smoggy August and tedious summer school classes. There's dependable Toshi; brainy Terauchi; Yuzan, grief-stricken and confused; and Kirarin, whose late nights and reckless behaviour remain a secret from those around her. Then Toshi's next-door neighbour is found brutally murdered and the girls suspect Worm, the neighbour's son and a high school misfit. But when he disappears (taking Toshi's bike and cell phone with him), the four girls become irresistibly drawn into a treacherous vortex of brutality and seduction which rises from within themselves as well as the world around them.

Heavy rain falls on Lafferton, flooding the cathedral town and causing a landslip out on the moors. As the rain water slowly drains away, a shallow grave - and a skeleton - are revealed. It doesn't take long to identify the remains as those of missing teenager, Harriet Lowther, who was last seen sixteen years ago, waiting for a bus. But a cold case isn't a priority for a police force already struggling with staff shortages and cuts: if Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Serrailler is to solve the case, he will have to do it alone. Meanwhile, his sister, Dr Cat Deerbon, is fighting for funding to prevent the closure of the local hospice that offers respite to so many of her patients.

Helene is a troubled young girl. Neglected by her self-absorbed mother and her adored but distant father, she longs for love and for freedom. As first the Great War and then the Russian Revolution rage in the background, she grows from a lonely, unhappy child to an angry young woman intent on destruction. "The Wine of Solitude" is a powerful tale of an unhappy family in difficult times and a woman prepared to wreak a shattering revenge.

Every feel like everyone but you has their life under control? Isabella, Mary and Lauren feel like everyone they know has a plan, a good job, and a nice boyfriend. Isabella, on the other hand, thinks she might hate her own boyfriend, Mary is working so hard she's hoping to get hit by a car just so she can have some time off work and Lauren is dating a man who can't spell her first-name. All three of them have been friends since college, and now - more than ever - they need each other, as they struggle through those thrilling, bewildering, what-on-earth-am-I-doing years when everyone else is getting married and they're just getting drunk.

Do you read newspapers online? Own a kindle? Download television programmes so you can skip the adverts? Over the last decade the traditional media - newspapers, music, television, films and books - have been systematically ransacked by digital organisations. Every media business has had to contend with the growing consumer demand for free online content and the Internet allows technology companies to reduce the price of content to zero by letting them build businesses with content copyrighted by others. MySpace attracted a user base larger than the population of most European countries, in part by letting its audience stream music, then sold itself to News Corporation for $580 million. But what are the consequences for cultural businesses? Is the result inevitable cultural impoverishment? "Free Ride" is the essential guide to a global marketplace in transition: where we are, how we got here and what we have to do to avoid cultural meltdown.

A pandemic has devastated the planet, sorting humanity into two types: the uninfected and the infected, the living and the living dead. The worst of the plague is now past, and Manhattan is slowly being resettled. Armed forces have successfully reclaimed the island south of Canal Street - aka 'Zone One' and teams of civilian volunteers are clearing out the remaining infected 'stragglers'. Mark Spitz is a member of one of these taskforces and over three surreal days he undertakes the mundane mission of malfunctioning zombie removal, the rigours of Post-Apocalyptic Stress Disorder, and attempting to come to terms with a fallen world. But then things start to go terribly wrong.

The first shot had been fired. There would be others. And whose finger was on the trigger? Who had got him so accurately in their sights?' Crab Key island is desolate and remote. So why is Dr No defending it so ruthlessly? Only Bond can uncover the truth, in Fleming's sixth 007 adventure.