Check Engine and Other Stories

Check Engine and Other Stories
Author: Jennifer Companik
Publisher:
Total Pages: 122
Release: 2021-09-24
Genre:
ISBN: 9781734515893

Check Engine and Other Stories, the debut short story collection by Jennifer Companik is a dive into ten literary short stories that feature both female and male protagonists. The duality in gender roles & expectations, married and unmarried, ghosts and death are but samples of what's inside. Companik's depth and layered story structure are bound to keep you checking in to make sure all the lights are on. Stories in this book have been featured in Glassworks, The London Reader, The Northern Virginia Review, and others.

Video Verite and Other Stories

Video Verite and Other Stories
Author: William Petrick
Publisher: Pearhouse Press
Total Pages: 150
Release: 2010
Genre: Mass media
ISBN: 0980235537

In our media-saturated world, the line between reality and fiction has grown thinner and more confusing. With sharp, clear prose and an insider's view of the media, Petrick's stories take us into a hall of mirrors where men and women struggle to understand themselves and their relationships with one another. In a climate defined by images, does love stand a chance when no one is certain what is real? In the title story, an accomplished skydiver goes airborne with a video camera to capture the love of his life, but a small oversight upends his best intentions. In "Sins of the Father," a man arriving in Huntsville, Texas, to commute his son's death sentence clashes with a documentary producer intent on chasing the story to its bitter end. In "Telling Time," a corporate video producer, conflicted by his own immoral conduct, learns that sometimes the absolute truth is the most effective lie.

Barbed Wire Hookers And Other Stories

Barbed Wire Hookers And Other Stories
Author: William D. McCann
Publisher: Newgrange Press
Total Pages: 167
Release: 2014-08-29
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

BARBED WIRE HOOKERS AND OTHER STORIES is a collection of thirteen stories that explore the struggles of those on the ragged edge of existence, whether the protagonist is a prostitute in the deserts of Nevada, a young American about to be sacrificed by the military industrial complex, or a corbina in the pounding surf of Todos Santos, Baja del Sur.

The Hidden Girl and Other Stories

The Hidden Girl and Other Stories
Author: Ken Liu
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 432
Release: 2020-02-25
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1982134054

Includes stories featured in Pantheon—now an animated series on AMC+ “I know this is going to sound hyperbolic, but when I’m reading Ken Liu’s stories, I feel like I’m reading a once-in-a-generation talent. I’m in awe.” —Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author “Captivating.” —BuzzFeed “Extraordinary.” —The Washington Post “Brilliant.” —The Chicago Tribune With the release of The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, Ken Liu’s short fiction has resonated with a generation of readers. From stories about time-traveling assassins, to Black Mirror-esque tales of cryptocurrency and internet trolling, to heartbreaking narratives of parent-child relationships, The Hidden Girl and Other Stories is a far-reaching work that explores topical themes from the present and a visionary look at humanity’s future. This collection includes a selection of Liu’s speculative fiction stories over the past five years—seventeen of his best—plus a new novelette. In addition, it also features an excerpt from The Veiled Throne, the third book in Liu’s epic fantasy series The Dandelion Dynasty. Stories include: Ghost Days; Maxwell's Demon; The Reborn; Thoughts and Prayers; Byzantine Empathy; The Gods Will Not Be Chained; Staying Behind; Real Artists; The Gods Will Not Be Slain; Altogether Elsewhere, Vast Herds of Reindeer; The Gods Have Not Died in Vain; Memories of My Mother; Dispatches from the Cradle: The Hermit—Forty-Eight Hours in the Sea of Massachusetts; Grey Rabbit, Crimson Mare, Coal Leopard; A Chase Beyond the Storms (an excerpt from The Veiled Throne, Book 3 of the Dandelion Dynasty); The Hidden Girl; Seven Birthdays; The Message; Cutting

Heteromation, and Other Stories of Computing and Capitalism

Heteromation, and Other Stories of Computing and Capitalism
Author: Hamid R. Ekbia
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2017-05-11
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 0262340313

An exploration of a new division of labor between machines and humans, in which people provide value to the economy with little or no compensation. The computerization of the economy—and everyday life—has transformed the division of labor between humans and machines, shifting many people into work that is hidden, poorly compensated, or accepted as part of being a “user” of digital technology. Through our clicks and swipes, logins and profiles, emails and posts, we are, more or less willingly, participating in digital activities that yield economic value to others but little or no return to us. Hamid Ekbia and Bonnie Nardi call this kind of participation—the extraction of economic value from low-cost or free labor in computer-mediated networks—“heteromation.” In this book, they explore the social and technological processes through which economic value is extracted from digitally mediated work, the nature of the value created, and what prompts people to participate in the process. Arguing that heteromation is a new logic of capital accumulation, Ekbia and Nardi consider different kinds of heteromated labor: communicative labor, seen in user-generated content on social media; cognitive labor, including microwork and self-service; creative labor, from gaming environments to literary productions; emotional labor, often hidden within paid jobs; and organizing labor, made up of collaborative groups such as citizen scientists. Ekbia and Nardi then offer a utopian vision: heteromation refigured to bring end users more fully into the prosperity of capitalism.

REGULATOR & Other Stories

REGULATOR & Other Stories
Author: James Clark
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2015-08-27
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1329514947

Eleven short stories designed to cover all aspects of society, especially government, religion, academia and those, elected and appointed, to be leaders in those areas.

Pope Awesome and Other Stories

Pope Awesome and Other Stories
Author: Cari Donaldson
Publisher: Sophia Institute Press
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2013-11-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1622821572

Take a two-income, quasi-New Age, newlywed couple with two Greyhounds and the resolve never to have children or to embrace any form of organized religion. Add ten years of hunger for "something more." What do you get? A large Catholic family, of course. And one in which in which the second youngest, while watching Pope Benedict depart the Vatican, solemnly declares, "Now I'll be pope: Pope Awesome the First, with my Swiss Guard army. And if my army men don't give me any new video games, I'll punch them in the face." In words often as sassy as those of her little Pope Awesome, Catholic homeschooler Cari Donaldson here relates how her friend's newborn baby, a portrait of the Virgin Mary, and the words of the Miraculous Medal called her forth from a selfish, small way of life into the welcoming arms of the Church. Six children in ten years have banished all her hopes for a tidy secular life, and, in her upscale town, where "Cats, not kids" bumper stickers are seen, have raised countess eyebrows along the way. Undaunted, Cari declares that "If we're to be a traveling carnival freak-show by New England standards, then we're going to be a carnival freak-show for Jesus," although her husband has stopped her from airbrushing onto her van a mural of Our Lady of Guadalupe riding a unicorn over a sparkling river. Above all, Cari tells of the awakening of her love for the Eucharist, the deepening of her love for her husband and her children, and the humility and faith these experiences have nurtured in her. To Jesus she confesses, "You taught me to be open to the lives You wanted to bring into the world through me. I rose above myself just enough to let You bring the blessings of these children into my life. I was sometimes scared and sometimes angry, and always at a loss about how I was going to mother these children, but I knew that it would be Your grace, and not my shortcomings, that would triumph." Through Cari's remarkable tale of her conversion and the peace she's found as a Catholic, you'll be reminded of the many profound, lifelong blessings God gives you through your Faith, and, yes, even through your daily small troubles and unexpected joys . . . like little Pope Awesome punching his Swiss Guards in the face! Cari's tale will lead you to share her conviction that we never know what God has planned for us tomorrow, but, for sure, "it will be better than anything we ourselves could have planned, even in our wildest dreams."

Destroy All Monsters, and Other Stories

Destroy All Monsters, and Other Stories
Author: Greg Hrbek
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2011-09-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0803236441

Contains ten short fiction stories in which Greg Hrbek explores what it means to be human and inhuman.

Bad Water and Other Stories of the Alaskan Panhandle

Bad Water and Other Stories of the Alaskan Panhandle
Author: Tom Hunt
Publisher: Strategic Book Publishing
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2013-06-29
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1628570253

Bad Water and Other Stories of the Alaskan Panhandle is a book of short stories set in southeast Alaska on an archipelago about the size of Florida. There are not many people and most of them live in a few small scattered towns. Some live in the more remote areas of the thousands of miles of coastline and hundreds of backwater bays and coves, making a living at whatever is available. Alaska is a place where geography and weather dictate human behavior, and that could mean eating the same dried beans, rice, deer meat and fish for a good part of the year. With no freeways and little law enforcement (a 911call means contacting the Coast Guard), people must learn to be self-sufficient, especially in times of emergencies. Sometimes people make their own solutions to solve problems. If a solution doesn't work and you're still alive, it's time to try another! The folks that live in this remote part of Alaska do whatever it takes to make it work. There's a freedom that can't be had in civilization, but the price is high. These are their stories.

The Jamun Tree and Other Stories

The Jamun Tree and Other Stories
Author: Richa Gupta
Publisher: Bridging Borders
Total Pages: 213
Release: 2021-07-27
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

‘Our daily life provides rich soil for a fertile imagination to sprout tales of mystery, delight, sorrow and awe.’ - Richa Gupta The Jamun Tree and Other Stories is a collection of short stories dissects and analyses a cross section of society to decipher our complex existence, psychological truths, range of emotions, relationships and subjective morality. The stories in this collection are about an almost-human Jamun tree, an enticing woman on a mission, a family receiving news about their inheritance, a journalist looking for a scoop, a family on a cruise liner, a mother dealing with the tragic death of her child, youngsters affected by corruption and an investigator resolving a mysterious murder. The Jamun Tree and Other Stories will help navigate and open up vistas to understand our present-day life.