A Fashionable Vice

A Fashionable Vice
Author: Donal L. White
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
Total Pages: 223
Release: 2001-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0738861987

Anne Duncan, 32 and divorced, is constrained by moralistic precepts inculcated by her dead father. She meets charming Scott Evans, impoverished college senior with a dazzling smile, but 10 years her junior. He invites her for coffee; she ends up paying for wine and cheesecake, epitomizing his approach to life. He claims a preference for older women, but the relationship remains platonic, despite a promising interlude in his condo. Then Scott runs off to Europe with another woman. Facing reality, she must find a way to earn more money. Best friend, Kathy Marlow recommends her to a small press in Tucson, but the venture fails. Anne ends up back in San Diego where Kathy introduces her to irreverent Teri Lawson. The two, similar in age but disparate in outlook, decide to share a place. A year later, Anne encounters Scott with Kathy. She'd avoided him after learning he was Kathy's lover and that, instead of going to medical school, he was working on a master's in psych. And he looks remarkably prosperous. Anne fills in for Kathy at Scott's Commencement. His change in fortune astounds her. He drives a Porsche and has an expensive condo in posh La Jolla. He's evasive about the source of his wealth but invites her to stay the night. Next day Anne complains to Teri that, when about to make love, she'd envision Kathy's face and freeze. Later she learns of Kathy's intention to break off with Scott. Teri cautions Anne that Scott's actions prove he thinks of no one but himself. Rejecting the warning, Anne goes to a jam session with Scott and has a good time, ignoring the fact his friends are surprised Scott isn't with his usual date, Adrienne. Lovemaking that night is all Anne had hoped for. Choosing to ignore his selfishness, Anne moves in with Scott. Kathy warns her about Adrienne, but Scott claims Adrienne merely helped furnish his townhouse. Scott is extremely generous; Anne can't imagine returning to her previous penurious life-style. Then he reveals the source of his wealth. He's blackmailing Adrienne, having chanced to get photos of her pushing her millionaire husband over the edge of Grand Canyon. His revelation shocks Anne but rather than endanger her life of luxury, she goes along with Scott. He insists she meet Adrienne who treats her abominably. Anne's shocked again when Teri's imprisoned for murdering her own lover. Thoughts of prison terrify Anne and are multiplied when she visits Teri in jail. Unable to face years in prison, Teri commits suicide. Devastated, Anne's grateful for Scott's support and agrees to a nostalgic trip to the Grand Canyon. She loves the Canyon and tells Scott how essential he is to her. That night his declaration of love thrills her. But next day they visit the spot where Adrienne murdered her husband. Scott gleefully recalls forcing Adrienne to strip and submit to sex. Except now she enjoys it. Enraged, Anne pushes him over the edge, then too late spots a man with a camera approaching. She shoves the surprised man aside and runs. Hurrying home to La Jolla, she she ferrets out hidden cash and incriminating photos of Adrienne. Fleeing to Mexico she's fluent in Spanish she ends up in La Paz. Convinced the whole thing is Adrienne's fault and, on the strength of the photos, she calls the woman and orders her to bring $100,000 in cash. When Anne goes to pick up the money, she finds not only Adrienne but Earl, the camera-carrying man she'd pushed down and, alive and well, Scott. He says she faces a long prison term for attempted murder. He offers her two choices: immediately submit to humiliating punishment from a vengeful Adrienne and then return to La Jolla as the older woman's maid or be left naked and penniless in Mexico, a fugitive from justice. Anne opts for the latter, but two Mexican peons happen along and, thinking her a whore, try to rape her. She's saved by the arrival of a limo carrying Julio Morena, Mario Fuentes, and Don Cesar Olivera. They provi

Vice Dos and Don'ts

Vice Dos and Don'ts
Author: Suroosh Alvi
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2004-09-01
Genre: Humor
ISBN: 9780446692823

From the creators of the runaway cult magazine sensation and arbiter of all that is cool comes the ultimate visual guide on how to be--and not be--a modern urban hipster.

Virgin and Other Stories

Virgin and Other Stories
Author: April Ayers Lawson
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2016-11-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0865478708

A confident and mesmerizing fiction debut, from the winner of the Plimpton Prize Set in the South, at the crossroads of a world that is both secular and devoutly Christian, April Ayers Lawson's stories evoke the inner lives of young women and men navigating sexual, emotional, and spiritual awakenings. In "The Negative Effects of Homeschooling," Conner, sixteen, accompanies his grieving mother to the funeral of her best friend, Charlene, a woman who was once a man. In "The Way You Must Play Always," Gretchen, who looks young even for thirteen, heads into her weekly piano lesson in nervous anticipation of her next illicit meeting with her teacher's brother, Wesley. Thin and sickly, wasting from a brain tumor, Wesley spends his days watching pornography and smoking pot, and yet Gretchen can only interpret his advances as the first budding of love. And in the title story, Jake grapples with the growing chasm between him and his wife, Sheila, who was still a virgin when they wed. At a cocktail party thrown by a wealthy donor to his hospital, he ponders the intertwining imperatives of marriage--sex and love, violation and trust, spirituality and desire--even as he finds himself succumbing to the temptations of his host. Self-assured and sensual, Virgin and Other Stories is the first work of a young writer of unusual mastery.

Don't Call Me Urban

Don't Call Me Urban
Author: Simon Wheatley
Publisher:
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2010
Genre: Art
ISBN:

Spanning 12 years Don't Call Me Urban is a fascinating photographic portrayal of underground music culture and social alienation. Capturing the era when London's inner-city youth found an authentic voice, Simon Wheatley's incisive eye goes into the raw environment from which the new stars of British popular music, such as Dizzee Rascal and Tinchy Stryder have emerged.

Inherent Vice

Inherent Vice
Author: Thomas Pynchon
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2012-06-13
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1101594675

"The funniest book Pynchon has written." — Rolling Stone "Entertainment of a high order." - Time Part noir, part psychedelic romp, all Thomas Pynchon—private eye Doc Sportello surfaces, occasionally, out of a marijuana haze to watch the end of an era. In this lively yarn, Thomas Pynchon, working in an unaccustomed genre that is at once exciting and accessible, provides a classic illustration of the principle that if you can remember the sixties, you weren't there. It's been a while since Doc Sportello has seen his ex- girlfriend. Suddenly she shows up with a story about a plot to kidnap a billionaire land developer whom she just happens to be in love with. It's the tail end of the psychedelic sixties in L.A., and Doc knows that "love" is another of those words going around at the moment, like "trip" or "groovy," except that this one usually leads to trouble. Undeniably one of the most influential writers at work today, Pynchon has penned another unforgettable book.

Modern Toss

Modern Toss
Author: Jon Link
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2017
Genre: Comic books, strips, etc
ISBN:

Dress Codes

Dress Codes
Author: Richard Thompson Ford
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 464
Release: 2022-01-18
Genre: Crafts & Hobbies
ISBN: 1501180088

A law professor and cultural critic offers an eye-opening exploration of the laws of fashion throughout history, from the middle ages to the present day, examining the canons, mores and customs of clothing rules that we often take for granted