The House of Harper: The Making of a Modern Publisher by Eugene Exman from HarperCollins is $1.99 (US Kindle)
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Book Description:
The epic story of a publishing giant
In 1817 four young brothers opened a printing shop in downtown Manhattan. Two centuries later, their small enterprise has grown into one of the world’s largest and most successful publishing houses. The Harper brothers and their sons and successors created a grand cultural institution that has become a cornerstone of America’s literary heritage.
Eugene Exman’s classic history, published in 1967, The House of Harper is the fascinating account of the birth and growth of a magnificent literary empire. Richly detailed, it is filled with portraits of dynamic publishers and editors, with remarkable anecdotes about the legendary artists and authors whose works they championed and brought to the general public—Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Herman Melville, Mark Twain, Winslow Homer, Henry James, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Thomas Wolfe, and Aldous Huxley, to name but a few. More than the enthralling saga of a successful business venture, it is a story of the shaping of American literature and culture.
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Jennifer Johnson Is Sick of Being Single by Heather McElhatton from William Morrow Paperbacks is $0.99 (US Kindle)
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Book Description:
A wicked comedy about the perils of making your dreams come true
Quirky, clever, cubicle-bound Jennifer Johnson is desperate. Everyone around her is getting married, while she’s still single and stuck writing ad copy about men’s dress socks.
Her life hits crisis level, launching her into a humiliating and painfully hilarious quest to find Prince Charming at any cost. This includes agonizing online dates, diet-clinic cults, drag-queen fights, and a debilitating addiction to Cinnabon icing. When she meets handsome, wealthy Brad Keller, she wonders if he’s the answer to all her dreams, or is he just too good to be true?
Darkly funny and outrageously honest, McElhatton’s wit shines in this no-holds-barred cautionary tale about getting what you want—and how it can be the worst thing for you.
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Sunset Park: A Novel by Paul Auster from Henry Holt and Co./Macmillan is $3.99 (US Kindle)
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Luminous, passionate, expansive, an emotional tour de force
Sunset Park follows the hopes and fears of a cast of unforgettable characters brought together by the mysterious Miles Heller during the dark months of the 2008 economic collapse.
An enigmatic young man employed as a trash-out worker in southern Florida obsessively photographing thousands of abandoned objects left behind by the evicted families.
A group of young people squatting in an apartment in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
The Hospital for Broken Things, which specializes in repairing the artifacts of a vanished world.
William Wyler’s 1946 classic The Best Years of Our Lives.
A celebrated actress preparing to return to Broadway.
An independent publisher desperately trying to save his business and his marriage.
These are just some of the elements Auster magically weaves together in this immensely moving novel about contemporary America and its ghosts. Sunset Park is a surprising departure that confirms Paul Auster as one of our greatest living writers.
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