Bad Stories

Bad Stories

Author: Steve Almond

Publisher: Red Hen Press

Published: 2018-03-01

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 1597092231

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

“Almond draws on everything from The Grapes of Wrath to the voting practices of his babysitter to dismantle the false narratives about American democracy.” —Cheryl Strayed, international-bestselling author of Wild Like a lot of Americans, Steve Almond spent the weeks after the 2016 election lying awake, in a state of dread and bewilderment. The problem wasn’t just the election, but the fact that nobody could explain, in any sort of coherent way, why America had elected a cruel, corrupt, and incompetent man to the Presidency. Bad Stories: What the Hell Just Happened to Our Country is Almond’s effort to make sense of our historical moment, to connect certain dots that go unconnected amid the deluge of hot takes and think pieces. Almond looks to literary voices—from Melville to Orwell, from Bradbury to Baldwin—to help explain the roots of our moral erosion as a people. The book argues that Trumpism is a bad outcome arising directly from the bad stories we tell ourselves. To understand how we got here, we have to confront our cultural delusions: our obsession with entertainment, sports, and political parody, the degeneration of our free press into a for-profit industry, our enduring pathologies of race, class, immigration, and tribalism. Bad Stories is a lamentation aimed at providing clarity. It’s the book you can pass along to an anguished fellow traveler with the promise, This will help you understand what the hell happened to our country. “Almond holds up literature as a guide through America’s age-old moral dilemmas and finds hope for his country in family, forgiveness, and political resistance.” —Booklist


Book Synopsis Bad Stories by : Steve Almond

Download or read book Bad Stories written by Steve Almond and published by Red Hen Press. This book was released on 2018-03-01 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Almond draws on everything from The Grapes of Wrath to the voting practices of his babysitter to dismantle the false narratives about American democracy.” —Cheryl Strayed, international-bestselling author of Wild Like a lot of Americans, Steve Almond spent the weeks after the 2016 election lying awake, in a state of dread and bewilderment. The problem wasn’t just the election, but the fact that nobody could explain, in any sort of coherent way, why America had elected a cruel, corrupt, and incompetent man to the Presidency. Bad Stories: What the Hell Just Happened to Our Country is Almond’s effort to make sense of our historical moment, to connect certain dots that go unconnected amid the deluge of hot takes and think pieces. Almond looks to literary voices—from Melville to Orwell, from Bradbury to Baldwin—to help explain the roots of our moral erosion as a people. The book argues that Trumpism is a bad outcome arising directly from the bad stories we tell ourselves. To understand how we got here, we have to confront our cultural delusions: our obsession with entertainment, sports, and political parody, the degeneration of our free press into a for-profit industry, our enduring pathologies of race, class, immigration, and tribalism. Bad Stories is a lamentation aimed at providing clarity. It’s the book you can pass along to an anguished fellow traveler with the promise, This will help you understand what the hell happened to our country. “Almond holds up literature as a guide through America’s age-old moral dilemmas and finds hope for his country in family, forgiveness, and political resistance.” —Booklist


Bad Behavior

Bad Behavior

Author: Mary Gaitskill

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2012-03-13

Total Pages: 227

ISBN-13: 1451687079

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

National Book Award finalist Mary Gaitskill’s debut collection, Bad Behavior—powerful stories about dislocation, longing, and desire which depict a disenchanted and rebellious urban fringe generation that is searching for human connection. Now a classic, Bad Behavior made critical waves when it first published, heralding Gaitskill’s arrival on the literary scene and her establishment as one of the sharpest, erotically charged, and audaciously funny writing talents of contemporary literature. Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times called it “Pinteresque,” saying, “Ms. Gaitskill writes with such authority, such radar-perfect detail, that she is able to make even the most extreme situations seem real…her reportorial candor, uncompromised by sentimentality or voyeuristic charm…underscores the strength of her debut.”


Book Synopsis Bad Behavior by : Mary Gaitskill

Download or read book Bad Behavior written by Mary Gaitskill and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-03-13 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: National Book Award finalist Mary Gaitskill’s debut collection, Bad Behavior—powerful stories about dislocation, longing, and desire which depict a disenchanted and rebellious urban fringe generation that is searching for human connection. Now a classic, Bad Behavior made critical waves when it first published, heralding Gaitskill’s arrival on the literary scene and her establishment as one of the sharpest, erotically charged, and audaciously funny writing talents of contemporary literature. Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times called it “Pinteresque,” saying, “Ms. Gaitskill writes with such authority, such radar-perfect detail, that she is able to make even the most extreme situations seem real…her reportorial candor, uncompromised by sentimentality or voyeuristic charm…underscores the strength of her debut.”


Bad Dreams and Other Stories

Bad Dreams and Other Stories

Author: Tessa Hadley

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2017-05-16

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 0062476688

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Winner of the Edge Hill Short Story Prize A New York Times Notable Book of the Year An NPR Best Book of the Year The award-winning author of The Past once again "crystallizes the atmosphere of ordinary life in prose somehow miraculous and natural" (Washington Post), in a collection of stories that elevate the mundane into the exceptional. The author of six critically acclaimed novels, Tessa Hadley has proven herself to be the champion of revealing the hidden depths in the deceptively simple. In these short stories it’s the ordinary things that turn out to be most extraordinary: the history of a length of fabric or a forgotten jacket. Two sisters quarrel over an inheritance and a new baby; a child awake in the night explores the familiar rooms of her home, made strange by the darkness; a housekeeper caring for a helpless old man uncovers secrets from his past. The first steps into a turning point and a new life are made so easily and carelessly: each of these stories illuminate crucial moments of transition, often imperceptible to the protagonists. A girl accepts a lift in a car with some older boys; a young woman reads the diaries she discovers while housesitting. Small acts have large consequences, some that can reverberate across decades; private fantasies can affect other people, for better and worse. The real things that happen to people, the accidents that befall them, are every bit as mysterious as their longings and their dreams. Bad Dreams and Other Stories demonstrates yet again that Tessa Hadley "puts on paper a consciousness so visceral, so fully realized, it heightens and expands your own. She is a true master" (Lily King, author of Euphoria).


Book Synopsis Bad Dreams and Other Stories by : Tessa Hadley

Download or read book Bad Dreams and Other Stories written by Tessa Hadley and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2017-05-16 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the Edge Hill Short Story Prize A New York Times Notable Book of the Year An NPR Best Book of the Year The award-winning author of The Past once again "crystallizes the atmosphere of ordinary life in prose somehow miraculous and natural" (Washington Post), in a collection of stories that elevate the mundane into the exceptional. The author of six critically acclaimed novels, Tessa Hadley has proven herself to be the champion of revealing the hidden depths in the deceptively simple. In these short stories it’s the ordinary things that turn out to be most extraordinary: the history of a length of fabric or a forgotten jacket. Two sisters quarrel over an inheritance and a new baby; a child awake in the night explores the familiar rooms of her home, made strange by the darkness; a housekeeper caring for a helpless old man uncovers secrets from his past. The first steps into a turning point and a new life are made so easily and carelessly: each of these stories illuminate crucial moments of transition, often imperceptible to the protagonists. A girl accepts a lift in a car with some older boys; a young woman reads the diaries she discovers while housesitting. Small acts have large consequences, some that can reverberate across decades; private fantasies can affect other people, for better and worse. The real things that happen to people, the accidents that befall them, are every bit as mysterious as their longings and their dreams. Bad Dreams and Other Stories demonstrates yet again that Tessa Hadley "puts on paper a consciousness so visceral, so fully realized, it heightens and expands your own. She is a true master" (Lily King, author of Euphoria).


Born Bad

Born Bad

Author: Andrew Vachss

Publisher: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard

Published: 2001-09-25

Total Pages: 501

ISBN-13: 0375719091

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

From a writer whose novels have been acclaimed for their unflinching exploration of evil comes a brilliant collection of short stories—some never before published—that distill dread back down to its essence—and inject it straight into the reader's back brain. Andrew Vachss might have scissored his characters from today's headlines: a stalker prowling around an anonymous high-rise; a serial killer whose transgressions reflect a childhood of hideous abuse; an inner-city gunman who is willing to take out a blockful of victims in order to win a moment of acceptance. Tautly written and endowed with murderous ironic spin, Born Bad plunges us into the hell that lies just outside our bedroom windows.


Book Synopsis Born Bad by : Andrew Vachss

Download or read book Born Bad written by Andrew Vachss and published by Vintage Crime/Black Lizard. This book was released on 2001-09-25 with total page 501 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From a writer whose novels have been acclaimed for their unflinching exploration of evil comes a brilliant collection of short stories—some never before published—that distill dread back down to its essence—and inject it straight into the reader's back brain. Andrew Vachss might have scissored his characters from today's headlines: a stalker prowling around an anonymous high-rise; a serial killer whose transgressions reflect a childhood of hideous abuse; an inner-city gunman who is willing to take out a blockful of victims in order to win a moment of acceptance. Tautly written and endowed with murderous ironic spin, Born Bad plunges us into the hell that lies just outside our bedroom windows.


Pretty Bad Stories

Pretty Bad Stories

Author: Paul Kennedy Mueller

Publisher: FriesenPress

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 106

ISBN-13: 1770671714

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

These "troublesome tales" take place in territories where the familiar and the expected quickly evolve into quirky, humorous, and sometimes dark variations. From a John Doe who discovers a scrap of extraterrestrial clothing to a Godfrey Daniel doomed to inhabit an assortment of hells, the characters and landscapes of this "unfortunate collection" will challenge and charm the adventurous reader....


Book Synopsis Pretty Bad Stories by : Paul Kennedy Mueller

Download or read book Pretty Bad Stories written by Paul Kennedy Mueller and published by FriesenPress. This book was released on 2010 with total page 106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These "troublesome tales" take place in territories where the familiar and the expected quickly evolve into quirky, humorous, and sometimes dark variations. From a John Doe who discovers a scrap of extraterrestrial clothing to a Godfrey Daniel doomed to inhabit an assortment of hells, the characters and landscapes of this "unfortunate collection" will challenge and charm the adventurous reader....


A Bad Case of Stripes

A Bad Case of Stripes

Author: David Shannon

Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

Published: 2016-08-30

Total Pages: 38

ISBN-13: 1338113151

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

It's the first day of school, and Camilla discovers that she is covered from head to toe in stripes, then polka-dots, and any other pattern spoken aloud! With a little help, she learns the secret of accepting her true self, in spite of her peculiar ailment.


Book Synopsis A Bad Case of Stripes by : David Shannon

Download or read book A Bad Case of Stripes written by David Shannon and published by Scholastic Inc.. This book was released on 2016-08-30 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It's the first day of school, and Camilla discovers that she is covered from head to toe in stripes, then polka-dots, and any other pattern spoken aloud! With a little help, she learns the secret of accepting her true self, in spite of her peculiar ailment.


Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Author: Judith Viorst

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2009-09-22

Total Pages: 34

ISBN-13: 1416985956

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Recounts the events of a day when everything goes wrong for Alexander. Suggested level: junior, primary.


Book Synopsis Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by : Judith Viorst

Download or read book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day written by Judith Viorst and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2009-09-22 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recounts the events of a day when everything goes wrong for Alexander. Suggested level: junior, primary.


What Was I Thinking?

What Was I Thinking?

Author: Barbara Davilman

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2009-02-03

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 1429958820

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The stories you are about to read are true. Often hilarious and always relatable, they all describe the moment when good sense and simple self-respect triumph over the human need to be loved—or, at least, the need to be with a particular man. The relationship may not last beyond lunch, or it may linger for weeks, months, or even years. But inside, you know: it's over. What Was I Thinking?58 Bad Boyfriend Stories includes contributions from: Francesca Lia Block Bonnie Bruckheimer Cindy Chupack Kate Coe Melinda Culea Carrie Fisher Wendy Hammers Nicole Hollander Maira Kalman Lisa Napoli Lynn Snowden Picket Mimi Pond Rachel Resnick Penny Stallings Laurie Winer Amy Wruble Whether the story is funny, sad, poignant, sweet, or just plain psychotic—we bet you can't read just one.


Book Synopsis What Was I Thinking? by : Barbara Davilman

Download or read book What Was I Thinking? written by Barbara Davilman and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2009-02-03 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The stories you are about to read are true. Often hilarious and always relatable, they all describe the moment when good sense and simple self-respect triumph over the human need to be loved—or, at least, the need to be with a particular man. The relationship may not last beyond lunch, or it may linger for weeks, months, or even years. But inside, you know: it's over. What Was I Thinking?58 Bad Boyfriend Stories includes contributions from: Francesca Lia Block Bonnie Bruckheimer Cindy Chupack Kate Coe Melinda Culea Carrie Fisher Wendy Hammers Nicole Hollander Maira Kalman Lisa Napoli Lynn Snowden Picket Mimi Pond Rachel Resnick Penny Stallings Laurie Winer Amy Wruble Whether the story is funny, sad, poignant, sweet, or just plain psychotic—we bet you can't read just one.


Bad Kansas

Bad Kansas

Author: Becky Mandelbaum

Publisher: University of Georgia Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 0820351288

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Kansas boys -- The golden state -- A million and one Marthas -- Go on, eat your heart out -- The house on Alabama Street -- Night of indulgences -- Stupid girls -- Thousand-dollar decoy -- First love -- Queen of England -- Bald bear -- Acknowledgment


Book Synopsis Bad Kansas by : Becky Mandelbaum

Download or read book Bad Kansas written by Becky Mandelbaum and published by University of Georgia Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kansas boys -- The golden state -- A million and one Marthas -- Go on, eat your heart out -- The house on Alabama Street -- Night of indulgences -- Stupid girls -- Thousand-dollar decoy -- First love -- Queen of England -- Bald bear -- Acknowledgment


Bad Time Stories

Bad Time Stories

Author: Yonatan Reshef

Publisher: University of Toronto Press

Published: 2014-05-27

Total Pages: 237

ISBN-13: 1442617764

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The 1990s and 2000s were especially difficult decades for government–public sector union relations in Canada. Rising costs and growing debts meant that governments were on the lookout for savings, and public sector unions and employees were easy targets for government actions. Bitter conflicts between unions and governments erupted and each labour dispute involved numerous rounds of public rhetoric in which both sides attempted to justify their actions and stigmatize their opponents. In Bad Time Stories, Yonatan Reshef and Charles Keim analyse the language of both parties in order to identify the legitimation strategies at work during government-union conflict. The authors use evidence drawn from newspapers, speeches, parliamentary transcripts, and legal statements in presenting a new framework for understanding the discursive strategies employed by governments and unions in labour disputes. Using a case study and linguistic approach, Bad Time Stories offers a unique perspective on industrial relations and will be of interest to scholars in the areas of business, public policy, and communications, as well to those directly involved in union-management negotiations.


Book Synopsis Bad Time Stories by : Yonatan Reshef

Download or read book Bad Time Stories written by Yonatan Reshef and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2014-05-27 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 1990s and 2000s were especially difficult decades for government–public sector union relations in Canada. Rising costs and growing debts meant that governments were on the lookout for savings, and public sector unions and employees were easy targets for government actions. Bitter conflicts between unions and governments erupted and each labour dispute involved numerous rounds of public rhetoric in which both sides attempted to justify their actions and stigmatize their opponents. In Bad Time Stories, Yonatan Reshef and Charles Keim analyse the language of both parties in order to identify the legitimation strategies at work during government-union conflict. The authors use evidence drawn from newspapers, speeches, parliamentary transcripts, and legal statements in presenting a new framework for understanding the discursive strategies employed by governments and unions in labour disputes. Using a case study and linguistic approach, Bad Time Stories offers a unique perspective on industrial relations and will be of interest to scholars in the areas of business, public policy, and communications, as well to those directly involved in union-management negotiations.