Marion, fresh out of medical school, flees Ethiopia and makes his way to America, finding refuge in his work as an intern at an underfunded, overcrowded New York City hospital. When the past catches up to him--nearly destroying him--Marion must entrust his life to the two men he thought he trusted least in the world: the surgeon father who abandoned him and the brother who betrayed him.
Colson Whitehead, acclaimed author of The Underground Railroad, explores a dark chapter of American history through the harrowing tale of two boys at a reform school in 1960s Florida. Elwood Curtis, inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., believes he deserves a better life. Raised by his loving grandmother, he is on the brink of attending a local black college when a single mistake lands him at The Nickel Academy, which purports to offer moral and intellectual training. However, the reality is a nightmare of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, where corrupt officials profit from the suffering of the boys. Elwood clings to Dr. King's message of love and resilience, but his friend Turner views the world differently, believing that survival requires adopting the very cruelty they face. This clash of ideals between Elwood's hope and Turner's pragmatism culminates in a choice with lasting consequences. Drawing from the true history of a Florida reform school that operated for over a century, this narrative is a poignant exploration of injustice and resilience, illuminating the ongoing struggles within the United States.
Questa è una storia di guerra, la guerra combattuta dagli americani in Vietnam. È la storia di William "Skip" Sands - agente della cia, programma Psychological Operations contro i vietcong - e delle vicende disastrose che gli toccano in sorte. È anche la storia dei fratelli Houston, Bill e James, giovani poveri e disadattati che scivolano, senza quasi averne coscienza, dal deserto dell'Arizona fin dentro un conflitto elusivo, dai confini indistinti. È poi la storia del colonnello Francis Xavier Sands, zio di Skip, cattolico praticante, studente a Notre Dame, campione di football, eroe della Seconda guerra mondiale, scheggia impazzita negli alti ranghi della cia. Ed è infine la storia di Kathy Jones, moglie di un missionario protestante assassinato nelle Filippine, amante di Skip Sands, irriducibile angelo laico in un'organizzazione che si occupa di orfani vietnamiti in circostanze impossibili. Nessuna di queste storie, come si può facilmente immaginare, prevede un lieto fine tradizionale. Ma nessuna è segnata dalla disperazione assoluta.
Crossroads is the first novel in Jonathan Franzen's A Key to All Mythologies. The trilogy tells the story of a Midwestern family across three generations, mirroring the preoccupations and dilemmas of the United States from the Vietnam War to the 2020s
The long awaited follow-up to 'When the Emperor was Divine' tells the story of a group of young women brought over from Japan to San Francisco as mail-order brides, nearly a century ago.
La breve e favolosa vita di Oscar Wao : già dal titolo si capisce che il romanzo non avrà un lieto fine classico. Ma non importa. Perché la vita di Oscar - ribattezzato Wao da un amico dominicano che storpia il nome di Wilde è davvero favolosa. Da favola. Da favola letteraria, magica e realistica al tempo stesso. Nasce e cresce nel New Jersey, il grasso, poco attraente, intelligente e parecchio eccitato Oscar. Sua madre Belicia è una ex reginetta di bellezza scappata da Santo Domingo perché perseguitata dal clan del dittatore Trujillo, la sorella, Lola, è una ragazza dolce, assennata e insieme spericolata come tutte le dominicane di Diaz. L'intero albero genealogico di Oscar, come quello di altre migliaia di dominicani, è composto da figure torturate, espropriate, martirizzate.
The acclaimed new novel from the author of The Corrections.
A magnum opus for our morally complex times from the author ofFreedom. Purity Tyler, known to all as Pip, is an outspoken, forthright young woman struggling to make a life for herself. She sleeps in an rickety commune in Oakland. She's in love with an unavailable older man and is saddled with staggering college debt. She has a crazy mother and doesn't know who her father is. A chance encounter leads her to an internship in South America with the world-famous Sunlight Project, the president of which is Andreas Wolf, a charismatic genius who grew up privileged but disaffected in the German Democratic Republic. Like numerous women before her, she becomes obsessed with Andreas, and they have an intense, unsettling relationship. Eventually, he finds her work back in the United States. What lies underneath is a wild tale of hidden identities, secret wealth, neurotic fidelity, sociopathy, and murder. The truth of Pip's parentage lies at the centre of this maelstrom, but before it is resolved Franzen takes us from the rain-drenched forests of northern California, to paranoid East Berlin before the fall of the Wall, to the paradisiacal mountain valleys of Bolivia, exposing us to the vagaries of radical politics, the problematic seductions of the internet, and the no-holds-barred war between the sexes. Featuring an unforgettable cast of inimitable Franzenian characters, Purity is deeply troubling, richly moving, and hilarious.
Passionate, strong-minded nonfiction from the National Book Award-winning author of "The Corrections." Jonathan Franzen's acclaimed novel was widely discussed, particularly regarding "The Harper's Essay," his controversial 1996 exploration of the American novel's fate. This essay appears for the first time in How to be Alone, alongside personal essays and insightful reportage that garnered Franzen a broad readership prior to his novel's success. His subjects, ranging from the sex-advice industry to the workings of a supermax prison, delve into recurring themes: the erosion of civic life, private dignity, and the persistent loneliness in postmodern America. Recent essays include a poignant piece on his father's struggle with Alzheimer's and a candid account of his brief experience as an Oprah Winfrey author. Collectively, these essays illustrate Franzen's journey "away from an angry and frightened isolation toward an acceptance— even a celebration—of being a reader and a writer." They reflect his skepticism toward technology and psychology, a complex relationship with consumerism, and a belief in the tragic nature of individual lives, establishing Franzen as one of our most incisive and entertaining social critics.
'Strong Motion' is the brilliant, bold second novel from the bestselling and critically acclaimed author of 'The Corrections' and 'Freedom'. Louis Holland arrives in Boston in a spring of strange happenings - earthquakes strike the city, and the first one kills his grandmother. During a bitter feud over the inheritance Louis falls in love with Renee Seitchek, a passionate and brilliant seismologist, whose discoveries about the origin of the earthquakes start to complicate everything. Potent and vivid, 'Strong Motion' is a complex story of change from the forceful imagination of Jonathan Franzen.
