Farewell Waltz

Author: Milan Kundera
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0063290731
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 292

Book Description
"After Farewell Waltz there cannot be any doubt. Kundera is a master of contemporary literature. This novel is both an an example of virtuosity and a descent into the human soul." —L'Unite Set in an old-fashioned Central European spa town, Farewell Waltz poses the most serious questions with a blasphemous lightness that makes us see that the modern world has deprived us even of the right to tragedy. In this dark farce of a novel, eight characters are swept up in an accelerating dance: a pretty nurse and her repairman boyfriend; an oddball gynecologist; a rich American (at once saint and Don Juan); a popular trumpeter and his beautiful, obsessively jealous wife; and an disillusioned former political prisoner about to leave his country and his young woman ward. It is perhaps the most brilliantly plotted and sheer entertaining of Milan Kundera's novels. Written in Bohemia in 1969-70, the book was first published (in 1976) in France under the title La valse aux adieux (Farewell Waltz), and later in thirty-four other countries. This beautiful translation, made from the French text prepared by the novelist himself, fully reflects Kundera's own tone and intentions, and offers an opportunity for both the discovery and the rediscovery of one of the very best of a great writer's works.

Farewell Waltz

Author: Milan Kundera
Publisher: Faber & Faber
ISBN: 0571367674
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 237

Book Description
A dazzling tragicomic tale from the author of modern classic The Unbearable Lightness of Being. 'Anyone reading Kundera's books is unlikely to forget them. They have an essential energy, a difference.' New Statesman 'Kundera is a self-confessed hedonist in a world beset by politics . . . Marvellous.' Salman Rushdie Klima, a celebrated jazz trumpeter, learns that a young nurse with whom he spent one brief night at a fertility spa is pregnant - and she has decided he is the father. Thus begins a whirlwind farce as he returns to the spa: an accelerating dance which unfolds over five madcap days, encompassing Klima's jealous wife, the nurse's equally jealous boyfriend, a fanatical gynaecologist, a rich American (at once Don Juan and saint) and an elderly political prisoner who is holding a farewell party before emigration. Posing serious philosophical questions with his inimitable blasphemous lightness, Farewell Waltz is perhaps the most purely entertaining of Kundera's novels, rich in black humour and profound human insights.

Your House Will Pay

Author: Steph Cha
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062868861
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 317

Book Description
WINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE “[A] suspense-filled page-turner.” —Viet Thanh Nguyen, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for The Sympathizer "A touching portrait of two families bound together by a split-second decision.” —Attica Locke, Edgar-Award winning author of Bluebird, Bluebird A Best Book of the Year Wall Street Journal * Chicago Tribune * Buzzfeed * South Florida Sun-Sentinel * Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel * Book Riot * LitHub A powerful and taut novel about racial tensions in Los Angeles, following two families—one Korean-American, one African-American—grappling with the effects of a decades-old crime In the wake of the police shooting of a black teenager, Los Angeles is as tense as it’s been since the unrest of the early 1990s. But Grace Park and Shawn Matthews have their own problems. Grace is sheltered and largely oblivious, living in the Valley with her Korean-immigrant parents, working long hours at the family pharmacy. She’s distraught that her sister hasn’t spoken to their mother in two years, for reasons beyond Grace’s understanding. Shawn has already had enough of politics and protest after an act of violence shattered his family years ago. He just wants to be left alone to enjoy his quiet life in Palmdale. But when another shocking crime hits LA, both the Park and Matthews families are forced to face down their history while navigating the tumult of a city on the brink of more violence.

The Farewell Party

Author: Milan Kundera
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780571168873
Category : Czech fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 209

Book Description
Published simultaneously with Identity, his new novel, here is a masterful new translation of Milan Kundera's most brilliantly plotted and sheerly entertaining novel -- a dark farce of sex, murder, and motherhood. Set in an Old-Fashioned Central European Spa Town, Farewell Waltz follows the lives of eight characters: a pretty nurse and her repairman boyfriend; an oddball gynecologist; a rich American who is at once a saint and a Don Juan; a popular trumpeter and his beautiful obsessively jealous wife; a disillusioned former political prisoner about to leave his country and his young female ward. Perhaps the most accessible of Milan Kundera's novels, Farewell Waltz poses the most serious questions with a blasphemous lightness that makes us see that the modern world has deprived us even of the right to tragedy. Translated from the French text prepared by the author himself a quarter century after the novel was originally written, Farewell Waltz sparkles anew with wit, humor, and irony. A valuable addition to HarperFlamingo's impressive Kundera backlist, it offers readers a chance to discover, or rediscover, one of the very best works of a legendary writer. "It is hard to imagine anything more chilling and profound that Kundera's apparent lightheartedness". -- Elizabeth Pochoda "Kundera ... remains faithful to this subtle, wily, devious talent for a fiction of 'erotic possibilities". -- New York Times Book Review

Such Small Hands

Author: Andrés Barba
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781945492006
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Shirley Jackson meets The Virgin Suicides, set at an all-girls orphanage.

Testimony

Author: Robbie Robertson
Publisher: Crown Archetype
ISBN: 0307889807
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 571

Book Description
New York Times Bestseller • On the 40th anniversary of The Band’s legendary The Last Waltz concert, Robbie Robertson finally tells his own spellbinding story of the band that changed music history, his extraordinary personal journey, and his creative friendships with some of the greatest artists of the last half-century. Robbie Robertson's singular contributions to popular music have made him one of the most beloved songwriters and guitarists of his time. With songs like "The Weight," "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," and "Up on Cripple Creek," he and his partners in The Band fashioned a music that has endured for decades, influencing countless musicians. In this captivating memoir, written over five years of reflection, Robbie Robertson employs his unique storyteller’s voice to weave together the journey that led him to some of the most pivotal events in music history. He recounts the adventures of his half-Jewish, half-Mohawk upbringing on the Six Nations Indian Reserve and on the gritty streets of Toronto; his odyssey at sixteen to the Mississippi Delta, the fountainhead of American music; the wild early years on the road with rockabilly legend Ronnie Hawkins and The Hawks; his unexpected ties to the Cosa Nostra underworld; the gripping trial-by-fire “going electric” with Bob Dylan on his 1966 world tour, and their ensuing celebrated collaborations; the formation of the Band and the forging of their unique sound, culminating with history's most famous farewell concert, brought to life for all time in Martin Scorsese's great movie The Last Waltz. This is the story of a time and place--the moment when rock 'n' roll became life, when legends like Buddy Holly and Bo Diddley criss-crossed the circuit of clubs and roadhouses from Texas to Toronto, when The Beatles, Hendrix, The Stones, and Warhol moved through the same streets and hotel rooms. It's the story of exciting change as the world tumbled through the '60s and early 70’s, and a generation came of age, built on music, love and freedom. Above all, it's the moving story of the profound friendship between five young men who together created a new kind of popular music. Testimony is Robbie Robertson’s story, lyrical and true, as only he could tell it.

The Fiddler's Fakebook

Author: David Brody
Publisher: Oak Publications
ISBN: 1783235829
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 303

Book Description
From the author’s preface: “This book was conceived four years ago, almost to the day, at a time when I was teaching fiddle and mandolin in New York City. It was my idea then, with my students in mind, to compile a book of the most often played, most important and most interesting fiddle tunes from the various Celtic and North American traditions. The tunes were chosen by cataloging a large number of recordings by tune title. A tally was taken to find out which had been recorded most often. This established a foundation of material that could not be left out. To this list I added the names of other pieces which had not been recorded as frequently, but which I knew were played regularly and with respect. I admit to sprinkling the collection with a few lesser known tunes which happen to be personal favorites, but I am sure they will hold their own when placed next to the old war horses of the fiddler’s repertoire. . . . Although I started out with my students in mind this book has turned out to be the book that I’ve always wanted and I hope that it will serve the advanced player as well as the beginner.”

Catskill Mountain Waltzes and Airs

Author: Molly Mason
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780985724436
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 82

Book Description
This is a collection of 62 original waltzes and airs by Jay Ungar & Molly Mason including their classics: "Ashokan Farewell," "The Lovers' Waltz," "The Snowstorm," "Love of My Life" and many more. Jay & Molly live in New York's Catskill Mountains where they run the legendary Ashokan Music & Dance Camps. Highly influenced by music taught at Ashokan, their infectiously playable original tunes reflect a wide variety of styles and moods from Western waltzes, to French Musettes, to Celtic airs, to Scandinavian and Eastern European sounding melodies. Each tune is complete with chord symbols, a descriptive paragraph, and several include illustrative photos.

The JOKE

Author: Milan Kundera
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 006099505X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 340

Book Description
All too often, this brilliant novel of thwarted love and revenge miscarried has been read for its political implications. Now, a quarter century after The Joke was first published and several years after the collapse of the Soviet-imposed Czechoslovak regime, it becomes easier to put such implications into perspective in favor of valuing the book (and all Kundera 's work) as what it truly is: great, stirring literature that sheds new light on the eternal themes of human existence. The present edition provides English-language readers an important further means toward revaluation of The Joke. For reasons he describes in his Author's Note, Milan Kundera devoted much time to creating (with the assistance of his American publisher-editor) a completely revised translation that reflects his original as closely as any translation possibly can: reflects it in its fidelity not only to the words and syntax but also to the characteristic dictions and tonalities of the novel's narrators. The result is nothing less than the restoration of a classic.

Lydia's Party

Author: Margaret Hawkins
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101635444
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 227

Book Description
An exquisite and profound tale for fans of Anne Tyler and Anna Quindlen Glowingly reviewed everywhere from O, The Oprah Magazine and Good Housekeeping to sites across the blogosphere, Lydia’s Party sparks “a-ha” moments and heartfelt conversations about friendship, regrets, and ambitions. Margaret Hawkins’s earlier books, all published by small presses, have gained her a devoted following, but this gem of a novel will introduce her to the wider audience she deserves. Lydia is hosting her “Bleak Midwinter Bash,” a late Christmas party that has become an annual tradition. Her guests—six friends who bonded twenty years ago over art, dogs, and their budding careers and romances—think they know everything about one another, but tonight Lydia prepares to shock them with a devastating announcement.