When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum’s classic tale we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious Witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil?
Gregory Maguire creates a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again. Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability, and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to become the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly, and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil.
An astonishingly rich re-creation of the land of Oz, this book retells the story of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, who wasn’t so wicked after all. Taking readers past the yellow brick road and into a phantasmagoric world rich with imagination and allegory, Gregory Maguire just might change the reputation of one of the most sinister characters in literature.
The Sea
In this luminous novel about love, loss, and the unpredictable power of memory, John Banville introduces us to Max Morden, a middle-aged Irishman who has gone back to the seaside town where he spent his summer holidays as a child to cope with the recent loss of his wife.
The redbreast
The Redbreast is a fabulous introduction to Nesbø’s tough-as-nails series protagonist, Oslo police detective Harry Hole. A brilliant and epic novel, breathtaking in its scope and design—winner of The Glass Key for best Nordic crime novel and selected as the best Norwegian crime novel ever written by members of Norway’s book clubs—The Redbreast is a chilling tale of murder and betrayal that ranges from the battlefields of World War Two to the streets of modern-day Oslo.
For close to sixty years Kate L. Turabian’s Manual for Writers has offered comprehensive and detailed guidance to authors of research papers—term papers, theses, and dissertations. Now the editors of The Chicago Manual of Style have revised Turabian’s Manual to bring the details of style into conformity with the fourteenth edition of The Chicago Manual. This new edition of Turabian also reflects the way students work today, taking into account the role of personal computers in the preparation and presentation of their papers. The familiar organization of this popular book remains largely unchanged. Chapter 1 describes the parts of a long formal paper. Chapters 2-5 introduce the mechanics of writing style, from abbreviations to quotations. Chapters 6 and 7 show how to prepare and refer to tables and illustrations. The section on documentation, chapters 8-12, describes two of the most commonly used systems of citation; these chapters provide many examples including guidance on how to cite electronic documents. Chapter 13, on manuscript preparation, shows how to take advantage of word processing software to present the elements of a paper clearly and effectively. Chapter 14 offers more than two dozen sample pages illustrating ways of formatting some of the complex features found in many research papers.
The fifth extensively revised edition of Kate Turabian’s guide for writers of term papers, theses, and dissertations, now including a chapter on computer usage, a bibliography of style guides and more. Illustrated.
A diamond in the desert
Barely forty years ago, Abu Dhabi was a fishing village on the Arabian Gulf. Now the capital of the United Arab Emirates, its citizens are each worth $17 million, it holds major stakes in Western economies, and has money to burn. In this timely, revealing and evocative portrait of a global player, Jo Tatchell traces the emirate’s dramatic development and the sometimes ruinous effect of extreme wealth on its people and their desert culture. And as its rulers fund another giant leap forward, she probes behind the official facade to examine whether this secretive and controlled society can realise its breathtaking plans to transform relations between East and West.
