101 Unuseless Japanese Inventions

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Merle Drown

"Jim Hutchins is holding a twelve gauge shotgun on his sworn enemy, his well-to-do brother-in-law, Emory Holler. What has made Jim snap?"--BOOK JACKET. "Well, Emory is rich because he's collected the insurance money for the supposedly accidental death of his wife, Jim's only sister. Pauline, Jim's wife, spends her spare time dancing naked for Emory. And Jim's best - his only - friend has suddenly died of an embolism."--BOOK JACKET. "In addition, the IRS is dunning Jim for back taxes; the town is about to seize the land on which the Hutchins have been living, in a trailer, since their house burned down; and each of his living children - two sons and a daughter - is in some sort of bizarre difficulty. Besides this, there is a panty thief roaming the area."--BOOK JACKET. "You might think this is enough for any man to confront but there is more, much more. Jim, an indomitable hero, shows us the hidden side of his small New Hampshire town with humor and penetrating insight into human frailty."--BOOK JACKET.

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Alice Bach

Sixteen-year-old Hallie's romantic idealization of her minister leads her to volunteer work with the poor of New York City and some disillusioning encounters with reality.

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Jeremy Clarkson

"Jeremy Clarkson knows there's more to life than cars. There is, after all, a whole world out there just waiting to be discovered. So, before he gets on to torque steer and active suspension, he's like to take a little time to consider the bigger picture." "Then there are the cars. Whether it's the poxiest little runabout or an exotic, fire-breathing supercar, no one else writes about cars like Jeremy. Unmoved by official claims and uninterested in press junkets, anything on four wheels is approached without fear or favour."--Jacket.

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Lorrie Moore

Twelve stories on human relations. In Charades, a traditional family game on Christmas turns sour when the charades hit too close to home, while in Agnes of Iowa, a woman's ambition to be worldly remains unfulfilled by an encounter with a poet from Africa. Description: 291 p. ; 22 cm. Contents: Willing -- Which is more than I can say about some people -- Dance in America -- Community life -- Agnes of Iowa -- Charades -- Four calling birds, three French hens -- Beautiful grade -- What you want to do fine -- Real estate -- People like that are the only people here: canonical babbling in peed onk -- Terrific mother. Responsibility: by Lorrie Moore. More information: Contributor biographical information Sample text Publisher description