Black Swan Last Night in Twisted River Ирвинг Джон

In a spirited opening piece, John Irving explains how he became a writer. There follow six scintillating stories written over the past twenty years, inlcuding The Pension Grillparzer, previously only to be found inside The World According to Garp, and now given its first independent airing

'The doctor was fated to go back to Bombay; he would keep returning again and again - if not forever, at least for as long as there were dwarves in the circus.' • Born a Parsi in Bombay, sent to university and medical school in Vienna, Dr Farrokh Daruwalla is a Canadian citizen - a 59-year-old orthopaedic surgeon, living in Toronto. Once, twenty years ago, Dr Daruwalla was the examining physician of two murder victims in Goa. Now, two decades later, the doctor will be reacquainted with the murderer

'If you care about something you have to protect it. If you're lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it.' • Summer, 1953. In the small town of Gravesend, New Hampshire, eleven-year-old John Wheelwright and his best friend Owen Meany are playing in a Little League baseball game. When Owen hits a foul ball which kills John's mother, their lives are changed in an instant • It is dismissed as a tragic accident but Owen disagrees. He believes that he is God's instrument, put on Earth for a higher purpose. And as the boys come into adulthood to the background of the Vietnam War, a series of remarkable events show that perhaps Owen's divine plan was not imagined after all • Discover the funny yet poignant classic by the bestselling author of The World According to Garp

You’ve heard the old proverb about ambition, that it’s like setting a ladder to the sky. It can lead to a long and painful fall • If you look hard enough, you will find stories pretty much anywhere. They don’t even have to be your own. Or so would-be-novelist Maurice Swift decides early on in his career • A chance encounter in a Berlin hotel with celebrated author Erich Ackerman gives Maurice an opportunity. For Erich is lonely, and he has a story to tell; whether or not he should is another matter • Once Maurice has made his name, he finds himself in need of a fresh idea. He doesn’t care where he finds it, as long as it helps him rise to the top. Stories will make him famous, but they will also make him beg, borrow and steal. They may even make him do worse • This is a novel about ambition

William Cody grows up surrounded by his father's tales of Buffalo Bill, to whom he is distantly related, and his fantasies of the Wild West • Though he escapes his heritage by fleeing abroad and starting a new life for himself, he finds that he is always drawn back to England and to his ancestry • When his father proposes that together they should recreate Buffalo Bill's stage show, "The Congress of Rough Riders of the World" for a contemporary audience, William refuses to have any part of it. When tragedy strikes, however, it is to his father that he must eventually return

Kate Atkinson's dazzling Life After Life, one of the top selling adult books of 2014, explored the possibility of infinite chances, as Ursula Todd lived through the turbulent events of the last century again and again. In A God in Ruins, Atkinson turns her focus on Ursula's beloved younger brother Teddy - would-be poet, RAF bomber pilot, husband and father - as he navigates the perils and progress of the 20th century. For all Teddy endures in battle, his greatest challenge will be to face living in a future he never expected to have. A God in Ruins is a masterful companion to Life After Life, and will prove once again that Kate Atkinson is one of the finest novelists of our age

What happens when 'I do' turns into 'I don't know'? • Jeannie always wanted to fall in love, and now she's finally got the whirlwind romance she dreamed of. Dan's gorgeous, he's a successful young vet, and he flew her to New York and proposed on Brooklyn Bridge. Jeannie has to remind herself this is actually her life. It seems too perfect, too magical, to be real. Yet it is • But now she's on her way to the wedding she can't shake off the tight sensation crushing her chest. Is it just nerves . . . or is this all happening a bit too fast? • Jeannie has one last chance to shout, 'Stop!' But just as she grabs it, a twist of fate throws everything she knows into the air like confetti. What Jeannie learns about Dan, about her own heart, and about the power of love itself, will change her world for ever

It only takes a moment to unravel a perfect life • When Grace's fiance vanishes without a trace the night after proposing, her life is turned upside down. But has Nick walked out on her, or is he in danger? • As Grace desperately searches for answers, it soon becomes clear that Nick wasn't the uncomplicated man she thought she knew. And when she uncovers a hidden tragedy from his childhood, she realises an awful truth: that you can run from your past - but your secrets will always catch up with you

Winner of the 2015 Costa Novel Award • A God in Ruins relates the life of Teddy Todd - would-be poet, heroic World War II bomber pilot, husband, father, and grandfather - as he navigates the perils and progress of the 20th century. For all Teddy endures in battle, his greatest challenge will be to face living in a future he never expected to have • This gripping, often deliriously funny yet emotionally devastating book looks at war - that great fall of Man from grace - and the effect it has, not only on those who live through it, but on the lives of the subsequent generations. It is also about the infinite magic of fiction. Those who loved the bestselling Life After Life will recognize Teddy as Ursula Todd's adored younger brother - but for those who have not read it, A God in Ruins stands fully on its own

To those who think they know her, Eliza Curran has it all: two healthy children, a stunning home and a wealthy, adoring husband. No one would guess the reality of her life: trapped in an unhappy marriage to a controlling man, she longs for a way out • When she takes on a new tenant, her life changes unexpectedly. Dan Jones is charming and perceptive, and quickly becomes a close friend to the whole family • But Dan's arrival threatens to tip Eliza's fragile world out of balance. And when someone has as many secrets as Eliza does, the smallest slip could destroy everything

Не так-то просто рассказать в двух словах об этой удивительной книге. Обычно аннотация дает читателю понять, о чем пойдет речь, но в данном случае мы опасаемся, что любые предварительные выводы или подсказки только помешают ему. Нам представляется очень важным, чтобы вы начали читать, не ведая, что вас ждет. Скажем лишь, что вас ждет необычное и завораживающее путешествие вместе с девятилетним мальчиком по имени Бруно. Вот только сразу предупреждаем, что книга эта никак не предназначена для детей девятилетнего возраста, напротив, это очень взрослая книга, обращенная к людям, которые знают, что такое колючая проволока. Именно колючая проволока вырастет на вашем с Бруно пути. Такого рода ограждения достаточно распространены в нашем мире. И нам остается только надеяться, что вы лично в реальной жизни не столкнетесь ни с чем подобным

Все пошло наперекосяк с мужчиной, которого Лотти считала мистером Правильным. И тут, как гром среди ясного неба, ей звонит ее первая любовь. Она решает, что это, должно быть, судьба, и спешит выйти за него замуж, чтобы возродить их пылкий роман на греческом острове • Старшая сестра Лотти не может поверить, что она совершает такой безумный поступок. Больше никакой мисс Милая сестра, она расторгает этот брак. Немедленно! И она пойдет на все, лишь бы это сделать • Книга Софи Кинселлы «Брачная ночь» — остроумный роман, отличный подарок любителям легких теплых и оптимистичных историй • Книга на английском языке • It's all gone wrong with the man Lottie thought was Mr Right. Then out of the blue she gets a call from her first love. She decides it muct be Fate, and rushes off to marry him and rekindle their sizzling Greek island romance