Showing results by narrator "Jeff Woodman" in All Categories

"How lucky I was, arriving in New York just as everything was about to go to hell." That would be in the autumn of 1972, when a very young and green James Wolcott arrived from Maryland, full of literary dreams, equipped with a letter of introduction from Norman Mailer, and having no idea what was about to hit him. Landing at a time of accelerating municipal squalor and, paradoxically, gathering cultural energy in all spheres as "Downtown" became a category of art and life unto itself, he embarked upon his sentimental education, seventies New York style.

It would take a miracle to keep Dortmunder out of jail. Though he cased the electronics store perfectly, the cops surprised him, turning up in the alley just as he was walking out the back door, a television in each hand. Already a two-time loser, without divine intervention he faces a long stretch inside. Then God sends J. Radcliffe Stonewiler, a celebrity lawyer who gets Dortmunder off with hardly any effort at all. Stonewiler was sent by Arnold Chauncey, an art lover with a cash-flow problem. He asks the thief to break into his house and make off with a valuable painting in exchange for a quarter of the insurance money.

Doctor Toby Glyer has effected miracle cures with the use of nanotechnology. But Glyer’s controversial nanites are more than just the latest technological advance, they are a new form of life - and they have more uses than just medical. Glyer’s nanites also have the potential to make everyone on Earth rich from the wealth of asteroids.

As they begin fifth grade, Rupert and Amelia discover that their teacher, Miss Switch, is a witch. Using his scientific mind, Rupert helps her solve a spooky dilemma. In return, the witch teaches Rupert and Amelia some magic. But soon Miss Switch disappears, and another teacher takes her place. One night that winter, a dark figure delivers a strange bottle to the children. Scientific curiosity leads Rupert to take the cork out. Suddenly, the bottle releases an ugly demon, Mordo, who plans to kidnap a whole class from Pepperdine Elementary School.

Outside, the wind is howling. Inside the empty house, Taddy is shivering beneath a ragged blanket. He has been alone ever since his aunt and uncle died suddenly from a terrible fever. As his uncle was taking his final breath, he warned of danger in nearby Alexandria. Now Taddy is hiding, afraid of the unknown. When two rough-sounding men sneak in to steal the furniture, they force Taddy into their horse-drawn cart. The next thing he knows, he’s in a tavern in Alexandria, working long hours for crumbs.

Springing from the author's first-hand experience as an ambulance driver and Red Cross worker during World War I, this autobiographical first novel is noteworthy for its vivid and colorful evocation of France at that time and for its passionate indictment of war. The author's disillusionment with war for a time turned him toward socialism and against capitalism.

The Cocaine Chronicles contains tough tales by a cross-section of today's most thought-provoking writers. Featuring brand-new stories by: Susan Straight, Lee Child, Laura Lippman, Ken Bruen, Jerry Stahl, Nina Revoyr, Bill Moody, Emory Holmes II, James Brown, Gary Phillips, Jervey Tervalon, Kerry E. West, Donnell Alexander, Deborah Vankin, Robert Ward, Manuel Ramos, and Detrice Jones.

Morgan Fairfield has been given two things: a locked briefcase and a ticket for the maiden voyage of the Titanic. In the briefcase is information vital to the American War Department. To deliver the message, Morgan will have to restore his wavering faith and survive the icy waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

An American writer of travel guides in need of a new location chooses to travel to a small and obscure Eastern European country. The moment Grafton crosses the border he is in trouble, much more than he could have imagined. His passport is taken by guards, and then he is detained for not having it. He is released into the custody of a family, but is again detained. It becomes evident that there are supernatural agencies at work.

A Pianist Under the Influence reflects on Biss' lifelong, intense, multilayered relationship with the composer's music and historical treatment. As Biss writes from the unique position of performer, scholar, and fan, his work is both a personal and professional love letter to the 19th-century composer. An engaging listen for anyone interested in the creative process, it also includes a guide for listeners who wish to delve further into the material.

Yankee transplant Daniel Musgrove can't seem to fit in at his Mississippi high school. When he meets fellow outsider Tim Cousins, things look up. But then the two boys' battles with a local bully escalate into a violent act that rocks the town.

Bill Ayers was born into privilege and is today a highly respected educator and community activist. In the late 1960s he was a founder of the militant activist group the Weather Underground. Living on the run, stealing explosives, and hiding from the law, Ayers was involved in the defining moments of his generation: the Days of Rage, SDS, the Black Panthers - and the explosion that killed his beloved comrade, Diana Oughton.

The explosive growth and low cost of online trading has created a new class of investor who can now make a living buying and selling stocks over the Internet in a way that was once reserved for Wall Street's most powerful brokerage firms and investment banks. Before taking to this fast-paced, high-risk playing field, it's absolutely essential that you have a firm grasp of the rules and a solid game plan.

Eve is haunted by her dead cats, Willie is not content to turn a blind eye to suffering, and Maria carries on lengthy conversations with a silent caller. Theirs are the odd, but strangely realistic stories you will find in this collection. Avi’s stories address real concerns in a way young people can relate to. Always entertaining, they broach difficult topics like divorce, teenage runaways, adolescent cruelty, and homelessness.

Benjamin was nine years old in the spring of 1855 when his father met with the accident that changed Benjamin’s life. Called home from boarding school, his first sight of his father lying nearly lifeless in the bed petrified him. Gone was the energetic man who had held the family together when Benjamin’s mother succumbed to diphtheria. With the courage and strength that had brought the family to the Oregon Territory, Benjamin and his siblings work to build the barn their father had been excitedly planning when he was struck down.

Rupert P. Brown’s biggest worry about sixth grade is it might be, well, a little bit dull. After all, how can a fellow be expected to top a fifth grade year in which his best friend was kidnapped, and he found out his best teacher ever was a real, honest-to-goodness witch? But when Rupert types the word "computowitch" in an e-mail message, his screen goes all green, and then his parakeet starts giving him math lessons. He knows it can only mean one thing: Miss Switch is back!

High school sleuths P.C. Hawke and Mackenzie Riggs quickly regret their decision to take a difficult calculus class from a tough instructor at Columbia University. But even though she's mean, Professor Dunaway certainly seems an unlikely candidate for murder. Though there are plenty of suspects, a lot of things about this case just don't add up.

People say New York City is a jungle. Still, P.C. Hawke is a little surprised when his best friend, Mackenzie, invites him to tag along with her police coroner mother to examine a scientist who has been mauled by jaguars at the Bronx Wildlife Conservation Park. But when the two teenage sleuths learn that the scientist actually died because he was given a lethal dose of gorilla blood after the attack, they quickly realize that the most vicious predator imaginable is loose in the park - a human killer!

Danger! It lurks at every corner! Volcanoes. Sharks. Pickup artists. Savage bike messengers. Keep this audio bundle on your phone, under the pillow, in the glove compartment, and anywhere else to help you survive the most harrowing predicaments—jam-packed with how-to, hands-on, step-by-step instructions on everything you need to know to face the perils of travel, work or romance!

Bill Buford spends a wild night in the park; Jonathan Safran Foer envisions it as a tiny, transplanted piece of a mythical Sixth Borough; and Marie Winn answers definitively Holden Caulfield's question of where the ducks go when the park's ponds freeze over. There are bird sightings and fish sightings; Jackie Kennedy and James Brown sightings; and pieces by Colson Whitehead, Paul Auster, and Francine Prose. This vibrant collection presents Central Park in all its many-faceted glory, a 51-block swath of special magic.