The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam

The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam
Author: Ann Marie Fleming
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2007-09-04
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781594482649

A full-color graphic memoir inspired by the award-winning documentary-and the life and mystery of China's greatest magician. Who was Long Tack Sam? He was born in 1885. He ran away from Shangdung Province to join the circus. He was an acrobat. A magician. A comic. An impresario. A restaurateur. A theater owner. A world traveler. An East-West ambassador. A mentor to Orson Welles. He was considered the greatest act in the history of vaudeville. In this gorgeous graphic memoir, his great-granddaughter, the artist and filmmaker Ann Marie Fleming, resurrects his fascinating life for the rest of the world. It's an exhilarating testament to a forgotten man. And every picture is true. Watch a QuickTime trailer for this book.

The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam

The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam
Author: Ann Marie Fleming
Publisher: Turtleback Books
Total Pages: 170
Release: 2007-09-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781417812691

Written in the form of a graphic novel, a full-color biography of China's greatest magician by his great-granddaughter chronicles the extraordinary life and career of Long Tack Sam, from his youth in China's Shangdung province to his diverse roles as an a

Bunny

Bunny
Author: Mona Awad
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 311
Release: 2019-06-11
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0525559744

NATIONAL BESTSELLER Soon to be a major motion picture "Jon Swift + Witches of Eastwick + Kelly 'Get In Trouble' Link + Mean Girls + Creative Writing Degree Hell! No punches pulled, no hilarities dodged, no meme unmangled! O Bunny you are sooo genius!" —Margaret Atwood, via Twitter "A wild, audacious and ultimately unforgettable novel." —Michael Schaub, Los Angeles Times "Awad is a stone-cold genius." —Ann Bauer, The Washington Post The Vegetarian meets Heathers in this darkly funny, seductively strange novel from the acclaimed author of 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl and Rouge "We were just these innocent girls in the night trying to make something beautiful. We nearly died. We very nearly did, didn't we?" Samantha Heather Mackey couldn't be more of an outsider in her small, highly selective MFA program at New England's Warren University. A scholarship student who prefers the company of her dark imagination to that of most people, she is utterly repelled by the rest of her fiction writing cohort--a clique of unbearably twee rich girls who call each other "Bunny," and seem to move and speak as one. But everything changes when Samantha receives an invitation to the Bunnies' fabled "Smut Salon," and finds herself inexplicably drawn to their front door--ditching her only friend, Ava, in the process. As Samantha plunges deeper and deeper into the Bunnies' sinister yet saccharine world, beginning to take part in the ritualistic off-campus "Workshop" where they conjure their monstrous creations, the edges of reality begin to blur. Soon, her friendships with Ava and the Bunnies will be brought into deadly collision. The spellbinding new novel from one of our most fearless chroniclers of the female experience, Bunny is a down-the-rabbit-hole tale of loneliness and belonging, friendship and desire, and the fantastic and terrible power of the imagination. Named a Best Book of 2019 by TIME, Vogue, Electric Literature, and The New York Public Library

Bartholomew and the Oobleck

Bartholomew and the Oobleck
Author: Dr. Seuss
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Total Pages: 57
Release: 1949-10-12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0394800753

Join Bartholomew Cubbins in Dr. Seuss’s Caldecott Honor–winning picture book about a king’s magical mishap! Bored with rain, sunshine, fog, and snow, King Derwin of Didd summons his royal magicians to create something new and exciting to fall from the sky. What he gets is a storm of sticky green goo called Oobleck—which soon wreaks havock all over his kingdom! But with the assistance of the wise page boy Bartholomew, the king (along with young readers) learns that the simplest words can sometimes solve the stickiest problems.

Marvelous Magicians

Marvelous Magicians
Author: Lydia Corry
Publisher: National Geographic Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2020-09-15
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 050065221X

A vibrantly illustrated and engaging introduction to the illusionists, both famous and lesser-known, who shaped modern magic. A great magician never reveals their secrets, but Marvelous Magicians reveals the names of eight groundbreaking illusionists, both famous and lesser-known, who shaped modern magic. Through a magical blend of biography, history, and illustration, this book spotlights an array of magicians, including one of the first female magicians, Adelaide Herrmann; African American illusionist Richard Potter, “The Handcuff King” Harry Houdini, and Houdin, Houdini’s namesake and inspiration. With two spectacular fold-out pages revealing the secret workings of the Automaton Chess Player and Howard Thurston’s dramatic transformation of an empty box into a world of wonders, this book examines the early history of magic, the eight magic effects on which all tricks are based, the necessary components of a magician’s toolbox, and the underrated role of the magician’s assistant. The book’s grand finale features advice on becoming a magician, an introduction to contemporary magicians from around the world, and an exploration of the hidden societies who have kept the secrets of illusions closely guarded for decades. Vibrantly illustrated and written in a theatrical style, Marvelous Magicians is the perfect book for aspiring magicians who want to know more about its history and the innovators who de ned it.

Me and Miranda Mullaly

Me and Miranda Mullaly
Author: Jake Gerhardt
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2017-01-10
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0147516331

“Jake Gerhardt’s debut novel is sweet, knowing, and a super-fun read. Takes you right back to the awkwardness and earnestness of adolescence, with a lot of cringe and even more laughs.” —Patton Oswalt, New York Times bestselling author, comedian, and actor They each have 33% chance with her, but she's 0% interested. Meet Sam, the comedian; Duke, the intellectual; and Chollie, the athlete. Their fates converge at Penn Valley Middle as each falls desperately for the enigmatic Miranda Mullaly—the girl who smiles like she means it, the girl who makes Christmas truly magic when she sings, the girl who…barely realizes her admirers exist! Small misunderstandings lead to big laughs, and beneath the humor, every attempt to win Miranda's favor becomes a compelling look at the larger world of each guy's life.

The Book of Magic

The Book of Magic
Author: Alice Hoffman
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2021-10-12
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1982189460

Master storyteller Alice Hoffman brings us the conclusion of the Practical Magic series in a spellbinding and enchanting final Owens novel brimming with lyric beauty and vivid characters. The Owens family has been cursed in matters of love for over three-hundred years but all of that is about to change. The novel begins in a library, the best place for a story to be conjured, when beloved aunt Jet Owens hears the deathwatch beetle and knows she has only seven days to live. Jet is not the only one in danger—the curse is already at work. A frantic attempt to save a young man’s life spurs three generations of the Owens women, and one long-lost brother, to use their unusual gifts to break the curse as they travel from Paris to London to the English countryside where their ancestor Maria Owens first practiced the Unnamed Art. The younger generation discovers secrets that have been hidden from them in matters of both magic and love by Sally, their fiercely protective mother. As Kylie Owens uncovers the truth about who she is and what her own dark powers are, her aunt Franny comes to understand that she is ready to sacrifice everything for her family, and Sally Owens realizes that she is willing to give up everything for love. The Book of Magic is a breathtaking conclusion that celebrates mothers and daughters, sisters and brothers, and anyone who has ever been in love.

Dust

Dust
Author: Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 403
Release: 2014-01-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0307961214

From a breathtaking new voice, a novel about a splintered family in Kenya—a story of power and deceit, unrequited love, survival and sacrifice. Odidi Oganda, running for his life, is gunned down in the streets of Nairobi. His grief-stricken sister, Ajany, just returned from Brazil, and their father bring his body back to their crumbling home in the Kenyan drylands, seeking some comfort and peace. But the murder has stirred memories long left untouched and unleashed a series of unexpected events: Odidi and Ajany’s mercurial mother flees in a fit of rage; a young Englishman arrives at the Ogandas’ house, seeking his missing father; a hardened policeman who has borne witness to unspeakable acts reopens a cold case; and an all-seeing Trader with a murky identity plots an overdue revenge. In scenes stretching from the violent upheaval of contemporary Kenya back through a shocking political assassination in 1969 and the Mau Mau uprisings against British colonial rule in the 1950s, we come to learn the secrets held by this parched landscape, buried deep within the shared past of the family and of a conflicted nation. Here is a spellbinding novel about a brother and sister who have lost their way; about how myths come to pass, history is written, and war stains us forever.

Marbles

Marbles
Author: Ellen Forney
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2012-11-06
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1101617195

Cartoonist Ellen Forney explores the relationship between “crazy” and “creative” in this graphic memoir of her bipolar disorder, woven with stories of famous bipolar artists and writers. Shortly before her thirtieth birthday, Forney was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Flagrantly manic and terrified that medications would cause her to lose creativity, she began a years-long struggle to find mental stability while retaining her passions and creativity. Searching to make sense of the popular concept of the crazy artist, she finds inspiration from the lives and work of other artists and writers who suffered from mood disorders, including Vincent van Gogh, Georgia O’Keeffe, William Styron, and Sylvia Plath. She also researches the clinical aspects of bipolar disorder, including the strengths and limitations of various treatments and medications, and what studies tell us about the conundrum of attempting to “cure” an otherwise brilliant mind. Darkly funny and intensely personal, Forney’s memoir provides a visceral glimpse into the effects of a mood disorder on an artist’s work, as she shares her own story through bold black-and-white images and evocative prose.

Cities

Cities
Author: Monica L. Smith
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2019-04-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 0735223696

"A revelation of the drive and creative flux of the metropolis over time."--Nature "This is a must-read book for any city dweller with a voracious appetite for understanding the wonders of cities and why we're so attracted to them."--Zahi Hawass, author of Hidden Treasures of Ancient Egypt A sweeping history of cities through the millennia--from Mesopotamia to Manhattan--and how they have propelled Homo sapiens to dominance. Six thousand years ago, there were no cities on the planet. Today, more than half of the world's population lives in urban areas, and that number is growing. Weaving together archeology, history, and contemporary observations, Monica Smith explains the rise of the first urban developments and their connection to our own. She takes readers on a journey through the ancient world of Tell Brak in modern-day Syria; Teotihuacan and Tenochtitlan in Mexico; her own digs in India; as well as the more well-known Pompeii, Rome, and Athens. Along the way, she presents the unique properties that made cities singularly responsible for the flowering of humankind: the development of networked infrastructure, the rise of an entrepreneurial middle class, and the culture of consumption that results in everything from take-out food to the tell-tale secrets of trash. Cities is an impassioned and learned account full of fascinating details of daily life in ancient urban centers, using archaeological perspectives to show that the aspects of cities we find most irresistible (and the most annoying) have been with us since the very beginnings of urbanism itself. She also proves the rise of cities was hardly inevitable, yet it was crucial to the eventual global dominance of our species--and that cities are here to stay.