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Sleepless Night in the Procrustean Bed [MultiFormat]
by Harlan Ellison
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Master essayist, gadfly, literary myth-figure and viewer of dark portent, Harlan Ellison has been, for the greater part of his life, a burr under the saddle of Complacency. His two books of TV criticism, The Glass Teat and The Other Glass Teat, are taught in more than 200 universities and colleges. In this, his former assistant and confidante, Marty Clark, has culled from hundreds of rare and unreprinted works twenty wide-ranging essays that demonstrate why the monstre sacre of imaginative liter... more info>> (Published: 1984)
Words: 70021 - Reading Time: 200-280 min.
Category: Mainstream
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2
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The American Chronicles: Decade One Dawn of the Century [MultiFormat]
by Robert Vaughan
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In Volume One of The American Chronicles, Robert Vaughan panoramically evokes America at the beginning of the Twentieth century, poised on the brink of greatness and fraught with the tumult of rapid change. A time of robber-baron industrialists and rapid territorial expansion both at home and abroad, the new music called "ragtime" is the soundtrack for a confident nation of ambitious dreamers. It is 1904 and the nation's eyes are on the St.Louis World's Fair, which features an astounding variety... more info>> (Published: 1992)
Words: 134242 - Reading Time: 383-536 min.
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3
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Aka [MultiFormat]
by Tristan Jones
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In a last-ditch stab at fortune and glory, middle-aged adventurer Bill Conan enters a 30,000-mile single-handed round-the-world race. This ultimate test of skill, strength, and endurance leads him across the treacherous Atlantic Ocean's vast expanse, where a sudden change in wind throws him off balance and sends him overboard. Alone in the still, open sea, he struggles to keep from drowning, knowing it is a fight that he will eventually lose. But Conan has stumbled into the migratory path of a b... more info>> (Published: 1981)
Words: 86299 - Reading Time: 246-345 min.
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4
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Alone in the Valley [MultiFormat]
by Kenneth Waymon Baker
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ALONE IN THE VALLEY tells the story of 19-year-old Daniel Perdue and his year as a grunt, pursuing an elusive enemy through the steamy jungles of the Central Vietnamese Highlands. From the moment the boy solider touches down until he is airborne on his way home again, author Kenneth Waymon Baker makes sure the reader hears every sound, sees every sight, feels every emotion as his young hero faces the rigors of war. Daniel is changed forever, a man who will return with the instincts of a warrior.... more info>> (Published: 1992)
Words: 112873 - Reading Time: 322-451 min.
Category: Mainstream
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5
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Ama: A Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade [MultiFormat]
by Manu Herbstein
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Thrust into a foreign land, passed from owner to owner, stripped of her identity. This is the life of Nandzi, who was given the name Ama, a name strange to her and her tribal culture. A life of struggle and resignation, bondage and freedom, passion and indifference, intense love and remorseless hate. Though forced into desperation, Ama never lets her soul be consumed by fear. While the stories of individual slaves have been blurred into one mass, Ama's story personifies the experience of eightee... more info>> (Published: 2000)
Words: 190688 - Reading Time: 544-762 min.
Category: Mainstream
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23 Reader Ratings:
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6
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Approaching Oblivion [MultiFormat]
by Harlan Ellison
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The New York Times called him "relentlessly honest" and then used him as the subject of its famous Sunday Acrostic. People Magizine said there was no one like him, then cursed him for preventing easy sleep. But in these stories Harlan Ellison outdoes himself, rampaging like a mad thing through love ("Cold Friend", "Kiss of Fire", "Paulie Charmed the Sleeping Woman"), hate ("Knox", "Silent in Gehenna"), sex ("Catman", "Erotophobia"), lost childhood ("One Life, Furnished in Early Poverty") and int... more info>> (Published: 1974)
Words: 62713 - Reading Time: 179-250 min.
Category: Mainstream
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7
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Beehive [MultiFormat]
by Andy Hoffman
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Ron Stutzer has a girlfriend. Elizabeth has brains, beauty, money, and a powerful job. But when that job sends her to Beirut, she's taken hostage. She disappears into the rubble and waste and confusion of the Middle East. But what can Ron do? His alcoholic father has just swiped his credit card halfway through a three-week binge. The bees he keeps with his football-friend Jim have gone berserk. His co-workers at the Census Bureau need him. He never understood Elizabeth's intrigues at the Departm... more info>> (Published: 1992)
Words: 62609 - Reading Time: 178-250 min.
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8
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Billy's Blues [MultiFormat]
by C. Rips Meltzer
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BILLY'S BLUES, recipient of the 1995 Jerome DeJur Award (previously granted to Oscar Hijuelos and Walter Mosley), is narrated by Walter, a modern day shut-in who suffers from numerous phobias. Safely removed from the late 20th century, Walter spends the day sleeping, reading, and eating, until he becomes obsessed with a famous figure from the late 19th Century: Billy the Kid. The infamous 'Boy Bandit King' of the old Southwest, shot dead at the age of twenty-one by Sheriff Pat Garret, who was on... more info>> (Published: 1998) Jerome DeJur Award Winner
Words: 58000 - Reading Time: 165-232 min.
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9
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Castle Garden [MultiFormat]
by Bill Albert
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He had arrived in America in 1887, but we first met him in 1906 when it seemed he may be approaching the end of his story, for he has been arrested for killing the ex-governor of Idaho, a murder which led to one of the most celebrated trials of the period. The men questioning him want him to implicate Big Bill Haywood, leader of the IWW and the Western Federation of Miners. Wanting to save himself, he tells the detectives stories they want to hear. He also tells stories he wants us to hear. They... more info>> (Published: 1996)
Words: 150553 - Reading Time: 430-602 min.
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10
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Chasing Shadows [MultiFormat]
by Fred Wilcox
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CHASING SHADOWS tells the story of a young man who pays a heavy price for pursuing his own dream. When he announces that he intends to be a poet instead of a doctor, his working class family thinks he's gone crazy. They send him to psychiatrists who shoot electricity though his brain, warn him that he'll never hold a job, and confide that he will suffer from nervous breakdowns all his life. After a stint in a state mental hospital, he spends the 'sixties on the mean streets of New York City, not... more info>> (Published: 1996)
Words: 67238 - Reading Time: 192-268 min.
Category: Mainstream
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11
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Children of the Streets [MultiFormat]
by Harlan Ellison
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When he's down, kick for the head and groin. Avoid cops. Play it cool. There aren't many rules in the primer for gang kids, but they all count. They're all easily understood, because they use a simple and sound philosophy--it's a stinking life, so get your kicks while you can. The gang is home, take what you want, tell them nothing--and don't get caught. Two gangs of juvenile delinquents run riot in New York City. They constantly try to outdo each other with their clothes, weapons, language and ... more info>> (Published: 1961)
Words: 63314 - Reading Time: 180-253 min.
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12
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Cold War [MultiFormat]
by Robert Vaughan
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The launch of Sputnik. Rock 'n' roll fever. The struggle for civil rights. Robert Vaughan's seventh volume of the American Chronicles has America entering the fifties amidst the fright of a cold war with Russia and a fiery war in Korea. Prizewinning war correspondent Shaylin McKay and African-American war hero Travis Jackson have a date with destiny. Back home, sexy screen siren Marcella Mills and Hollywood's leading lady Demaris Hunter find both their careers and their emotions harnessed to the... more info>> (Published: 1992)
Words: 111358 - Reading Time: 318-445 min.
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13
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Coyote Woman [MultiFormat]
by Judith Redman Robbins
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Shawanadese was the name bestowed on her when she was born into the prehistoric Anasazi tribe. Her fate seemed much like that of any other young girl until her magical powers began to erupt at the dawning of womanhood. It was then that a sacred name--Coyote Woman--was granted to her, a name that would come to identify her as a high priestess and draw the lustful and the faithful to her side. No one could have imagined the mystical charms of the high priestess, and nobody could have expected the ... more info>> (Published: 1996)
Words: 125056 - Reading Time: 357-500 min.
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14
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Deathbird Stories [MultiFormat]
by Harlan Ellison
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Harlan Ellison's masterwork of myth and terror as he seduces all innocence on a mind-freezing odyssey into the darkest reaches of mortal terror and the most dazzling heights of Olympian hell in his finest collection. (Published: 1975)
Words: 101814 - Reading Time: 290-407 min.
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15
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Desert Blues [MultiFormat]
by Bill Albert
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On the fifth day of July, 1957, Harold Abelstein's father, Norman, tried to make a U-turn on the Pasadena Freeway. A short time later, Harold awoke in a hospital bed battered and parentless. That was bad enough. Worse was that his remaining relative was Aunt Enid and everything about Aunt Enid embarrassed him. Wearing too much make up and not enough clothes, she talked loudly and touched everyone, especially Harold. He didn't like being touched. Having to deal with each other, Harold and Enid ar... more info>> (Published: 1994)
Words: 62580 - Reading Time: 178-250 min.
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16
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Dream Carver [MultiFormat]
by Sonja Massie
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Despite ill-fortune and betrayal, Michael McKevett vows to continue carving carousels, a craft that brings joy and peace to his Irish soul. This art symbolizes everything good that vanished from Michael's life when his greatest passion, Caitlin O'Leary, betrayed him for his enemy Mason Armfield. Michael's determination to realize great dreams and ambitions brings him to a crossroad where he must decide if Ireland is his future or if the great land of America will bring peace back to his life and... more info>> (Published: 1989)
Words: 135796 - Reading Time: 387-543 min.
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17
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Eagles [MultiFormat]
by Maggie Davis
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They are intoxicating seductresses willing to do anything--absolutely anything--for love; however, these women can't rival the military aspirations of their men. The women try to fill the holes left in their hearts, but how much longer can they survive loneliness and rejection? How do they take possession of their men's hearts, hearts that only have room for the liberating expanse of the sky? The only way they can reach their stuck-in-the-clouds men is to use illicit affairs, sinful seduction, a... more info>> (Published: 1980)
Words: 142793 - Reading Time: 407-571 min.
Category: Mainstream
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18
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Eagles Cry Blood [MultiFormat]
by Donald Zlotnick
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While too many soldiers are fighting for the brass in the midst of the sanguineous Vietnam battles, Lt. Paul Bourne is compelled to fight the enemy for his country's freedom. But when he comes up against his captain--a man driven by selfishness and a desire for recognition and glory, Bourne is even more determined to destroy the enemy--even if this means sacrificing his life. (Published: 1986)
Words: 142488 - Reading Time: 407-569 min.
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19
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Entering Ephesus [MultiFormat]
by Daphne Athas
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This novel, about three school-aged sisters, originally published by Viking Press 20 years ago, was hailed by the critics, made Time magazine's "Ten Best Fiction List" in 1971, and won the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction in 1972. A British edition by Chatto and Windus in 1972 was equally praised, as the following review excerpt attests: "As formulas for happiness go, there's a lot to be said for shared adversity; and if this can be enriched with a touch of group paranoia, so much the happie... more info>> (Published: 1971) Sir Walter Raleigh Award Winner, Time Magazine's "Ten Best Fiction List"
Words: 174000 - Reading Time: 497-696 min.
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20
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First Tiger [MultiFormat]
by George Harrar
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When a car crash takes a life, to whom does the tragedy really happen--the wife who dies? The husband who was driving? Or the six-year-old son sitting in the back seat? Author George Harrar explores this provocative question in his debut novel, set in the arts colony of New Hope, Pennsylvania, on the Delware River. The book begins 10 years after the accident when Jake Paine, now 16, comes home after almost a year as a runaway. His return sparks painful memories in his father, a man verging on a ... more info>> (Published: 1999)
Words: 84911 - Reading Time: 242-339 min.
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21
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Fishing in the Sky [MultiFormat]
by Donald Lawder
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What distinguishes this remarkable narrative from other accounts of personal growth is not just its vivid and intimate picture of West African life, but the fact that its author embarked on his adventure at an age when most men and women are resigned to life in a rocking chair. At age sixty-six, after the break-up of a stormy marriage, Donald Lawder begins a new life as a volunteer teacher for the Peace Corps in the impoverished country of Mali, in West Africa. He is adopted by a Moslem family, ... more info>> (Published: 1997)
Words: 67804 - Reading Time: 193-271 min.
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22
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From Everlasting to Everlasting [MultiFormat]
by Sophie Freeman
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A historically accurate, realistic story of the Mormons, their hardships and triumphs and, eventually, the founding of their home and new religion. Ellen Randall is a young girl of fifteen. Raised by Elder Zachary and his wife Sara after being orphaned at an early age, Ellen grows up as she experiences the tribulations of belonging to the Mormon faith. Ellen is also faced with another challenge due to her religion: the long journey on a wagon train headed to Utah. Tormented, their faith tested a... more info>> (Published: 1989)
Words: 58636 - Reading Time: 167-234 min.
Category: Mainstream
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23
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Grey Wolf, Grey Sea [MultiFormat]
by E. B. Gasaway
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The history of one of World War II's most successful submarines, U-124, is chronicled in Grey Wolf, Grey Sea, from its few defeats to a legion of victories. Kapitanleutnant Jochen Mohr commanded his German submarine and navigated it through the treacherous waters of one of the most destructive, savage wars the world has known. (Published: 1970)
Words: 68006 - Reading Time: 194-272 min.
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24
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Gringa [MultiFormat]
by Sandra Scofield
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This is a novel about Abilene Painter, a young woman with a drab Texas past whose fate leads her to Mexico. Here she becomes the mistress of a powerful bullfighter and rancher, Antonio Velez. Abilene is a study in the pathology of passivity, a woman who has never thought she's had real choices. She toys with risk, playing games with men who belong to Tonio. It is also 1968, a time of student uprisings and massive demonstrations in Mexico City. Abilene, seduced by the danger, walks a fine line. (Published: 1989)
Words: 99583 - Reading Time: 284-398 min.
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25
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Harlan Ellison's Movie [MultiFormat]
by Harlan Ellison
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The republication of Harlan Ellison's Movie, the full-length feature film he created when a producer at 20th Century-Fox said to him, "If we gave you the money, and no interference, what sort of movie would you write?" Well, that producer is no longer at 20th, he left the whole entire venue of moviemaking after Harlan Ellison's Movie was seen by the Suits at the studio. There's no use even trying to describe what the film is about, except to confirm the long-standing rumor that it contaims a sce... more info>> (Published: 1973)
Words: 28677 - Reading Time: 81-114 min.
Category: Mainstream
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![Long [134242 words]](/images/long.gif "Long [134242 words]")
![Short [16690 words]](/images/short.gif "Short [16690 words]")
