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Lies and Sorcery (Paperback)
Elsa Morante; Translated by Jenny McPhee
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R667
R506
Discovery Miles 5 060
Save R161 (24%)
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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This delirious 1925 Jazz Age classic introduced readers to Lorelei
Lee, the small-town girl from Little Rock, who has become one of
the most timeless characters in American fiction. Outrageous and
charming, this not-so-dumb blonde has been portrayed on stage and
screen by Carol Channing and Marilyn Monroe and has become the
archetype of the footloose, good-hearted gold digger (not that she
sees herself that way). Masquerading as her diaries, Gentlemen
Prefer Blondes follows Lorelei as she entertains suitors across
Europe before returning home to marry a millionaire. In this
delightfully droll and witty book, Lorelei s glamorous pragmatism
shines, as does Anita Loos s mastery of irony and dialect. A craze
in its day and with ageless appeal, this new Liveright edition puts
Lorelei back where she belongs: front and center."
Natalia Ginzburg, one of Italy's great writers, introduced "A
Family Lexicon," her most celebrated work, with an unusual
disclaimer: "The places, events and people are all real. I have
invented nothing. Every time that I have found myself inventing
something in accordance with my old habits as a novelist, I have
felt impelled at once to destroy everything thus invented." "A
Family Lexicon" re-creates with extraordinary objectivity the small
world of a family enduring some of the most difficult years of the
twentieth century, the period from the rise of Mussolini through
World War II (Ginzburg's first husband, who was a member of the
resistance, was killed by the Nazis) and its immediate aftermath.
Every family has its store of phrases and sayings by which it
maintains its sense of what it means to be a family. Such sayings
and stories lie at the heart of a great novel about family and
history.
It's 1948, and postwar Rome is giddy and chaotic. Poet Dante Sabat
is attending yet another film industry soiree at Tullio Merlini's
apartment off the Via del Corso. Disaffected and deeply
self-absorbed, Dante finds Tullio's glamorous evenings tedious but
welcomes any distraction. This rainy evening, the distraction is
double: sisters Gladys and Prudence Godfrey, both beautiful,
sharp-witted, and remarkably compelling American actresses who have
recently arrived in Rome. As the new acquaintances leave the party
together, it marks the beginning of a story of three damaged people
struggling to live with their memories, and with themselves.
Exhausted by fascism and the Second World War, Dante finds refuge
in the hope offered by the resurgent cinema, by American
literature, and, in particular, by the pragmatic optimism and
sexual energy of his American lovers. But after decades of
struggling to defend the fallibility of his art, his nation, his
family, and his own humanity, he remains convinced that the best
expression of hope is to give up his life. The question for Dante
is: Can Gladys and Prudence change his mind? Will he let them?
Jenny McPhee's critically acclaimed debut, "The Center of Things, "
was hailed by "O, The Oprah Magazine" as "a smart novel of love,
lust, and life's miraculous randomness." "The New York Times Book
Review" called it "an engaging novel about big ideas." In her
delightful new novel, "No Ordinary Matter, " McPhee turns her
razor-sharp pen on the offbeat worlds of soap operas, mistaken
identities, private detectives, and sibling rivalries as she deftly
navigates the territory between coincidence and fate.
Veronica Moore writes for a daytime drama while secretly
composing a musical and has fallen in love with Alex Drake, who
plays a neurologist on her show. Lillian Moore is a neurologist who
is pregnant from a one-night stand. Veronica and Lillian have hired
Brian Byrd, P. I., to uncover the mystery surrounding their
father's death. Before they know it, unexpected answers come
crawling out of the woodwork. The sisters meet monthly at the
Hungarian Pastry Shop, where they entangle their futures and
unravel their pasts, setting the stage for a series of revelations
that will change the course of everyone's lives. This fast-paced
narrative is full of situations worthy of the steamiest of soaps,
and yet McPhee renders this fantastical world delightfully
ordinary.
"No Ordinary Matter" is as addictive as a soap opera, as
high-kicking as a Broadway show, as insightful as an MRI, and as
satisfying as a buttery croissant. With its sly charm and witty
sophistication, McPhee's new novel is another sparkling gem from a
rising literary star.
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