Anthony Heald
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English
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Mark's parents have never done a thing for him. When he got out of the army and married Krystal, they were against it, just as they are against his moving to Los Angeles. But Mark has a dream, a dream of being an entertainer, of having a show in Las Vegas. So he packs Krystal and their son, Hans, into their car and starts driving from Arizona to California, determined to show his parents how wrong they are to doubt him. But when the car breaks down...
22) Firelight
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English
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A mother and her son dream of a life beyond their means in this classic short-story by Tobias Wolff.
"Firelight" tells the story of a mother and her son who are spending the afternoon viewing apartments on a chilly day in Seattle, Washington. The two have no intention of renting one-they can only afford to live in a meager boarding house. Nevertheless, they spend every Saturday wandering through apartments and department stores, dreaming of a different...
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Gilbert saw Mary Ann first, but the second time he sees her she is dancing with his best friend, Rafe. The three of them begin hanging out all the time, driving around in the car Rafe got as a present for getting into Yale. But when Rafe goes out of town, Gilbert and Mary Ann keep the tradition going, seeing movies and going on drives … in Rafe's car no less. Gilbert thinks he and Mary Ann are perfect together, even the way they fit next to one...
24) Soldier's Joy
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English
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A powerful tale of life after war by short-story master Tobias Wolff
Hooper, a Vietnam veteran, finds himself at an army base in Washington State. His days are uneventful, filled with mundane duties, empty conversations, and the occasional jaunt with a married woman.
A phone call in the middle of the night breaks Hooper's predictable routine. One of the guards at the communications center is threatening to kill himself-and says he'll shoot the other...
25) A White Bible
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English
Description
Maureen is an English teacher, and she's had a long day. All she wants is a relaxing night out with friends, a few beers, and maybe the chance to forget the troubles of her past: the gambling ex-husband and the daughter who'd thrown her life away sleeping with married men. But her night-and maybe her life-is thrown off track when she leaves the bar and a man approaches her in the parking lot as she unlocks her car.
26) Deep Kiss
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English
Description
When Joe Reed was a teenager, he fell so deeply in love with Mary Claude Moore that his parents threatened to send him away. Decades later, he's living a normal life with his wife and their two children; yet in the thirty years since he's last seen Mary Claude, he hasn't stopped thinking of her. With recent news of her in hand, Joe begins to understand the reasons for which he has never stopped loving her-and just how pivotal that time in his life...
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An unnerving tale of self-absorption and deception by short-story master Tobias Wolff
Three friends are leaving the suburbs of Spokane on a hunting trip. Kenny is the prankster, harsh and mean. Frank is laid-back and full of idealism. Tub is overweight, sensitive, and the brunt of everyone's jokes. Searching for tracks in the snow, the trio has little luck until they spot a set of deer prints heading into a nearby farm. Kenny, desperate for a token...
28) The Wilding
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This is a powerful debut novel set in a threatened western landscape, from the award-winning author of Refresh, Refresh. Echo Canyon is a disappearing pocket of wilderness outside Bend, Oregon, and the site of conflicting memories for Justin Caves and his father, Paul. It's now slated for redevelopment as a golfing resort. When Paul suggests one last hunting trip, Justin accepts, hoping to get things right with his father, and agrees to bring along...
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A Russian author, playwright, and physician, Anton Chekhov is widely considered one of the best short-story writers of all time. Having influenced such writers as Ernest Hemingway, Raymond Carver, and James Joyce, Chekhov's stories are often noted for their stream-of-consciousness style and their vast number. Raymond Carver once said, “It is not only the immense number of stories he wrote—for few, if any, writers have ever done more—it is the...
30) The Rich Brother
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English
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A classic tale of brotherly love and rivalry from short-story master Tobias Wolff
Pete has always been successful. Happily married with two daughters, he lives a comfortable life in Santa Cruz. Pete is a practical, hardworking man and he enjoys life's monetary pleasures.
His younger brother, Donald, is a gaunt, troubled man. Unmarried and without children, Donald earns what little money he has by occasionally painting houses. He's a religious man,...
31) Leviathan
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English
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Two drugged-out couples contemplate life and morality in "Leviathan," a classic short-story by the masterful Tobias Wolff.
For Helen's thirtieth birthday party, her husband decides to throw her a small party. Armed with booze and three grams of cocaine, the four partyers-Helen, her husband, and another couple-spend the night and the next morning in a drug-induced stupor. As their talk turns to past misdeeds and shameful acts, the couples begin to...
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The story of a book critic and his final thoughts from short-story master Tobias Wolff
Anders is an angry, cynical man. A book critic known for his scathing reviews, he finds any excuse to dismiss, belittle, or insult. This afternoon is no more agitating than the next. Angers finds himself in a long line at the bank, waiting to reach a teller. Even after two men-wearing masks and carrying guns-take control of the building, Anders is unfazed. It's...
33) Mortals
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English
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Mr. Givens' obituary is nothing remarkable, hardly something to remember at all. He led a quiet life, served in the Army, was married to the same woman for forty-two years, and worked at the same job practically his whole life. He wasn't a baseball player or a movie star, he was the furthest thing from a celebrity. In fact, the only thing noteworthy about his obituary is what happens after it runs in the newspaper, when he shows up in the office of...
34) Smorgasbord
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English
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García, the wealthy, swaggering son of a foreign dictator, invites two lower-class boys from his boarding school to have dinner in New York along with his Spanish-speaking stepmother, Linda. When the group decides to go to a kitschy, unpretentious Swedish smorgasbord rather than a fine restaurant, García refuses to leave the limousine, still angry with Linda after an argument over money. Linda proves to be more than the young men had anticipated,...
35) Sanity
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English
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April's father, a psychology professor, has had a breakdown and has landed in the Alta Vista State Hospital. Her stepmother, Claire, is just waiting for him to get out so she can leave on a trip to Italy-a trip April is worried Claire won't come back from. She needs Claire, at least until she finishes high school. She needs her not just as a companion but as a worldly woman who can tell April about men and their desires … men far different from...
36) The Liar
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English
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One of Tobias Wolff's classic tales, "The Liar" is the story of a deceitful teenage boy and his religious, resolute mother.
James is a liar. He enjoys inventing fantastic stories about his family, particularly his mother. Margaret is orderly, stubborn, and judgmental-a woman who throws rocks at hungry bears and never misses four o'clock Mass. She loves her children but has always struggled with James. Like his deceased father, he's fascinated by...
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While on a crowded bus near the Vatican, a man named Mallon-visiting Italy on business-feels someone reaching into his pockets, searching for his wallet. He elbows the pickpocket, seriously injuring the man. Driven by his guilty conscience, Mallon finds himself peering in on the life of an unfamiliar culture and learning more about the world than he ever could have imagined.
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In the tradition of Tuesdays with Morrie and Small Miracles, a screenwriter and playwright shares funny, poignant, and deeply inspiring stories about communications from the other side. A postcard from heaven is not a revelation from on high—rather, it's “a whisper, a familiar smell in the air, or just the feeling of a presence” of someone who's passed away. These eerie coincidences are uncanny enough to suggest that they come from the spirits...
Author
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Description
Tobias Wolff's first two books proved how the short story can “provoke our amazed appreciation” (New York Times Book Review). Now after writing numerous other works, he returns to the short story with fresh revelations—about biding one's time, or experiencing first love, or burying one's mother—that come to a variety of characters in circumstances at once everyday and extraordinary: a retired Marine enrolled in college while her son trains...