A Ladder to the Sky

A Ladder to the Sky PDF Author: John Boyne
Publisher: Hogarth
ISBN: 1984823035
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
“A satire of writerly ambition wrapped in a psychological thriller . . . An homage to Patricia Highsmith, Oscar Wilde and Edgar Allan Poe, but its execution is entirely Boyne’s own.”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST AND MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE Maurice Swift is handsome, charming, and hungry for fame. The one thing he doesn’t have is talent—but he’s not about to let a detail like that stand in his way. After all, a would-be writer can find stories anywhere. They don’t need to be his own. Working as a waiter in a West Berlin hotel in 1988, Maurice engineers the perfect opportunity: a chance encounter with celebrated novelist Erich Ackermann. He quickly ingratiates himself with the powerful – but desperately lonely – older man, teasing out of Erich a terrible, long-held secret about his activities during the war. Perfect material for Maurice’s first novel. Once Maurice has had a taste of literary fame, he knows he can stop at nothing in pursuit of that high. Moving from the Amalfi Coast, where he matches wits with Gore Vidal, to Manhattan and London, Maurice hones his talent for deceit and manipulation, preying on the talented and vulnerable in his cold-blooded climb to the top. But the higher he climbs, the further he has to fall. . . . Sweeping across the late twentieth century, A Ladder to the Sky is a fascinating portrait of a relentlessly immoral man, a tour de force of storytelling, and the next great novel from an acclaimed literary virtuoso. Praise for A Ladder to the Sky “Boyne's mastery of perspective, last seen in The Heart's Invisible Furies, works beautifully here. . . . Boyne understands that it's far more interesting and satisfying for a reader to see that narcissist in action than to be told a catchall phrase. Each step Maurice Swift takes skyward reveals a new layer of calumny he's willing to engage in, and the desperation behind it . . . so dark it seems almost impossible to enjoy reading A Ladder to the Sky as much as you definitely will enjoy reading it.”—NPR “Delicious . . . spins out over several decades with thrilling unpredictability, following Maurice as he masters the art of co-opting the stories of others in increasingly dubious ways. And while the book reads as a thriller with a body count that would make Highsmith proud, it is also an exploration of morality and art: Where is the line between inspiration and thievery? To whom does a story belong?”—Vanity Fair

A Ladder to the Sky

A Ladder to the Sky PDF Author: John Boyne
Publisher: Hogarth
ISBN: 1984823035
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 341

Get Book Here

Book Description
“A satire of writerly ambition wrapped in a psychological thriller . . . An homage to Patricia Highsmith, Oscar Wilde and Edgar Allan Poe, but its execution is entirely Boyne’s own.”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST AND MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE Maurice Swift is handsome, charming, and hungry for fame. The one thing he doesn’t have is talent—but he’s not about to let a detail like that stand in his way. After all, a would-be writer can find stories anywhere. They don’t need to be his own. Working as a waiter in a West Berlin hotel in 1988, Maurice engineers the perfect opportunity: a chance encounter with celebrated novelist Erich Ackermann. He quickly ingratiates himself with the powerful – but desperately lonely – older man, teasing out of Erich a terrible, long-held secret about his activities during the war. Perfect material for Maurice’s first novel. Once Maurice has had a taste of literary fame, he knows he can stop at nothing in pursuit of that high. Moving from the Amalfi Coast, where he matches wits with Gore Vidal, to Manhattan and London, Maurice hones his talent for deceit and manipulation, preying on the talented and vulnerable in his cold-blooded climb to the top. But the higher he climbs, the further he has to fall. . . . Sweeping across the late twentieth century, A Ladder to the Sky is a fascinating portrait of a relentlessly immoral man, a tour de force of storytelling, and the next great novel from an acclaimed literary virtuoso. Praise for A Ladder to the Sky “Boyne's mastery of perspective, last seen in The Heart's Invisible Furies, works beautifully here. . . . Boyne understands that it's far more interesting and satisfying for a reader to see that narcissist in action than to be told a catchall phrase. Each step Maurice Swift takes skyward reveals a new layer of calumny he's willing to engage in, and the desperation behind it . . . so dark it seems almost impossible to enjoy reading A Ladder to the Sky as much as you definitely will enjoy reading it.”—NPR “Delicious . . . spins out over several decades with thrilling unpredictability, following Maurice as he masters the art of co-opting the stories of others in increasingly dubious ways. And while the book reads as a thriller with a body count that would make Highsmith proud, it is also an exploration of morality and art: Where is the line between inspiration and thievery? To whom does a story belong?”—Vanity Fair

Ladder to the Moon

Ladder to the Moon PDF Author: Maya Soetoro-Ng
Publisher: Candlewick Press
ISBN: 076366667X
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 49

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Book Description
From Maya Soetoro-Ng, sister of President Obama, comes a lyrical story relaying the loving wisdom of their late mother to a young granddaughter she never met. (Ages 4-8) Features an audio read-along performed by the author! Little Suhaila wishes she could have known her grandma, who would wrap her arms around the whole world if she could, Mama says. And one night, Suhaila gets her wish when a golden ladder appears at her window, and Grandma Annie invites the girl to come along with her on a magical journey. In a rich and deeply personal narrative, Maya Soetoro-Ng draws inspiration from her mother’s love for family, her empathy for others, and her ethic of service to imagine this remarkable meeting. Evoking fantasy and folklore, the story touches on events that have affected people across the world in our time and reaffirms our common humanity. Yuyi Morales’s breathtaking artwork illuminates the dreamlike tale, reminding us that loved ones lost are always with us, and that sometimes we need only look at the moon and remember.

A Traveler at the Gates of Wisdom

A Traveler at the Gates of Wisdom PDF Author: John Boyne
Publisher: Anchor Canada
ISBN: 038569587X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
From the award-winning, bestselling author of The Heart's Invisible Furies: an epic tale of humanity--a daring, profound novel that tells the story of all of us. This story starts with a family. For now, it is a father and a mother with two sons. One with his father's violence in his blood. One with his mother's artistry. One leaves. One stays. They will be joined by others whose deeds will determine their fate. It is a beginning. Their stories will intertwine and evolve over the course of two thousand years. They will meet again and again at different times and in different places. From Palestine at the dawn of the first millennium and journeying across fifty countries to a life amongst the stars in the third, the world will change around them, but their destinies remain the same. It must play out as foretold. A Traveler at the Gates of Wisdom is the story of all of us, stretching across two millennia. Imaginative, unique, heart-breaking, this is John Boyne at his most creative and compelling.

Pillar to the Sky

Pillar to the Sky PDF Author: William R. Forstchen
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0765334380
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 397

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Book Description
"A towering epic to rank with Douglas Preston's Blasphemy and Michael Crichton's Prey... Pandemic drought, skyrocketing oil prices, dwindling energy supplies and wars of water scarcity threaten the planet. Only four people can prevent global chaos. Gary Morgan--a brilliant, renegade scientist is pilloried by the scientific community for his belief in a space elevator: a pillar to the sky, which he believes will make space flight fast, simple and affordable. Eva Morgan--a brilliant and beautiful scientist of Ukrainian descent, she has had a lifelong obsession to build a pillar to the sky, a vertiginous tower which would mine the power of the sun and supply humanity with cheap, limitless energy forever. Gunther Rothenberg--the ancient but revered rocket-scientist who labored at Peenemunda with von Braun to create the first rockets and continued on to build those of today. A legend, he has mentored Gary and Natalia for two decades, nurturing and encouraging their transcendent vision. Franklin Smith--the eccentric Silicon Valley billionaire who will champion their cause, wage war with Congress and government bureaucracy and most important, finance their herculean undertaking. This journey to the stars will not be easy--a tumultuous struggle filled with violence and heroism, love and death, spellbinding beauty and heartbreaking betrayal. The stakes could not be higher. Humanity's salvation will hang in the balance"--

Stay Where You Are and Then Leave

Stay Where You Are and Then Leave PDF Author: John Boyne
Publisher: Penguin Group
ISBN: 0385681402
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Book Description
From the author of the phenomenally bestselling The Boy in the Striped Pajamas comes an unforgettable story of a boy's life changed by war, published to coincide with World War One's centenary. The day the First World War broke out, Alfie Summerfield's father promised he wouldn't go away to fight -- but he broke that promise the following day. Four years later, Alfie doesn't know where his father might be, other than that he's away on a special, secret mission. Then, while shining shoes at King's Cross Station, Alfie unexpectedly sees his father's name -- on a sheaf of papers belonging to a military doctor. Bewildered and confused, Alfie realises his father is in a hospital close by -- a hospital treating soldiers with an unusual condition. Alfie is determined to rescue his father from this strange, unnerving place...

Lifting the Sky

Lifting the Sky PDF Author: Mackie d'Arge
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1599909898
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
12-year-old Blue's mom has always told her, "just bloom where you're planted." And it's a good motto, considering Mam never stays in one job or one place for very long. Then Mam gets hired as a hand at the 2 Bar Ranch, and for the first time, Blue finds in its rundown buildings and majestic mountain setting a place she longs to call home. There she makes a friend in an enigmatic Indian named Shawn, whose search for an ancient petroglyph intrigues her. And it's there that the faint auras Blue has always noticed around people begin to grow brighter-and become something she learns to control, and to heal with. But Mam begins to show signs of getting restless, and when the father who abandoned Blue suddenly shows up, the family-and the home-she's always wanted are threatened.

Ladder to the Stars

Ladder to the Stars PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780645651409
Category : Sculpture, Australian
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description


Ladder to the Light

Ladder to the Light PDF Author: Steven Charleston
Publisher: Broadleaf Books
ISBN: 1506465749
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 175

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Book Description
Darkness will not last forever. Together we can climb toward the light. They were as troubled as we, our ancestors, those who came before us, and all for the very same reasons: fear of illness, a broken heart, fights in the family, the threat of another war. Corrupt politicians walked their stage, and natural disasters appeared without warning. And yet they came through, carrying us within them, through the grief and struggle, through the personal pain and the public chaos, finding their way with love and faith, not giving in to despair but walking upright until their last step was taken. My culture does not honor the ancestors as a quaint spirituality of the past but as a living source of strength for the present. They did it and so will we. In the same voice that has comforted and challenged countless readers through his daily social media posts, Choctaw elder and Episcopal priest Steven Charleston offers words of hard-won hope, rooted in daily conversations with the Spirit and steeped in Indigenous wisdom. Every day Charleston spends time in prayer. Every day he writes down what he hears from the Spirit. In Ladder to the Light he shares what he has heard with the rest of us and adds thoughtful reflection to help guide us to the light. Native America knows something about cultivating resilience and resisting darkness. For all who yearn for hope, Ladder to the Light is a book of comfort, truth, and challenge in a time of anguish and fear.

Fencing the Sky

Fencing the Sky PDF Author: James Galvin
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780312267346
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 156

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Book Description
A rancher in the West lassos a pushy land developer, breaking his neck. The rancher flees into the wilds, helped by fellow ranchers and is pursued by federal agents. A look at an endangered world under siege from yuppies.

Cai Guo-Qiang

Cai Guo-Qiang PDF Author: Guoqiang Cai
Publisher: Prestel Publishing
ISBN: 9783791352428
Category : Art, Chinese
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Featuring stunning, never-before-published works, this is the most intimate book to date on the renowned Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang. Produced in close collaboration with the artist, this volume documents new projects commissioned for The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, alongside Cai Guo-Qiang's own survey of his artistic journey and the personal cosmology that informs his work. CONTRIBUTORS: Jeffrey Deitch Jeffrey Deitch is the Director of The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Rebecca Morse Rebecca Morse is Associate Curator at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Philipp Kaiser Philipp Kaiser has been a curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art is Los Angeles since 2007. From 2001 through 2007 he was Curator at the Museum für Gegenwartskunst in Basel. He has written numerous contributions on contemporary art and has curated solo-exhibitions with Louise Lawler, Johanna Billing, Christian Philipp Müller, Simon Starling, Amelie von Wulffen, Sterling Ruby amongst others but also large-scale thematic exhibitions like »Flashback - Revisiting the Art of the 80s« and »Index - California Conceptualism«. He is currently working on the first American retrospective of Jack Goldstein. Philipp Kaiser will assume the post of Director of the Museum Ludwig in Cologne in late 2012. About Shen Kuiyi Kuiyi Shen is Director of the Chinese Studies program and Professor of Asian Art History, Theory, and Criticism at the University of California, San Diego. Lesley Ma Lesley Ma, former Manager of Cai Studio, is earning her PhD in Art History, Theory, and Criticism at the University of California, San Diego. It features a rich sampling of Cai's wonderfully diverse oeuvre, including explosion events, gunpowder drawings, and installations. Informative essays and a conversation with the artist explore Cai's influences, from traditional Chinese scrolls and his father's miniature paintings to Asian philosophy and memories of his grandmother. Including never-before-published new works and unprecedented contributions by the artist himself, this book promises to be an important reference on Cai's art for years to come. ILLUSTRATION: 175 colour illustrations