A daring foray into the groundbreaking genre of autobiographical fiction Sad Old Faggot is the absorbing, sometimes embarrassing, always entertaining story of a lonely, self-obsessed, selfish, deluded, impotent 62-year-old gay man named Sky Gilbert who „ despite his best intentions „ cannot help but become a stereotype. SkyÍs main claim to fame is founding Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in 1979. But since leaving Buddies, heÍs fallen on hard times. Sky Gilbert is no longer even remotely famous. He has to fight off his own bitterness as audiences for his plays steadily dwindle. Theatre people dismiss his work as old news and point to the fact that he teaches at the University of Guelph as proof: his descent into academia clearly signals his failure as an artist. All along the way, the book questions our truths and celebrates their mutability. What is really true about each of us? What do we actually know about ourselves? And how much, it asks, of our own personal truth is based on fact „ and how much is rooted in fiction?

Sky Gilbert is a writer, director, and drag queen extraordinaire. He was co-founder, and artistic director of Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (North America's largest gay and lesbian theatre) for 18 years. His novels Guilty, St. Stephen's, I Am Kasper Klotz, and Brother Dumb were critically acclaimed. ECW published his two previous collections of poetry: Digressions of a Naked Party Girl, Temptations For A Juvenile Delinquent and also his theatre memoir Ejaculations From The Charm Factory. He has received two Dora Mavor Moore Awards and the Pauline McGibbon Award for theatre directing, and he was the recipient of The Margo Bindhardt Award (from the Toronto Arts Foundation), The Silver Ticket Award (from the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts), and the ReLit Award (for his fourth novel, An English Gentleman). Of his recent novella Wit In Love The Globe and Mail said: This little surprise package may be one of the best and funniest books published in Canada this year. Dr. Gilbert holds a University Research Chair in Creative Writing and Theatre Studies at The School of English and Theatre Studies at the University of Guelph

This fascinating record of how English is spoken in England is now being reprinted. Over 400 maps detail differences in phonology, lexicon, morphology and syntax. The Atlas provides a unique survey of the linguistic geography of England. This volume was inspired by the English Dialect Survey which set out to elicit information about the current dialectical usages of the older members of the farming communities throughout rural England. The Survey secondly mapped this information to illustrate the regional distributions of those features of their speech which persisted from ancient times. Published after Orton's death, the publication of this volume testified to the sustained interest in the lingusitic geography of England.

Bruce Springsteen's melancholy "Meeting Across the River," a song rarely performed but beloved by his countless fans, serves as the inspiration for this eclectic mix of short stories written by an array of acclaimed authors. "Meeting Across the River," from Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run album, is a song with an evocative melody and lyrics that unfold like a noir fable: a man down on his luck but desperate to make things right with his girl tells his buddy, Eddie, that they have to get across the river for a last-chance meeting with someone, all in the hopes of a big score: two grand. With that money, our hero can win back his girl and all will be right with the world-but if he and Eddie screw up, the consequences will be grave. Authors including Eric Garcia, C. J. Box, Barbara Seranella, David Corbett, Gregg Hurwitz, and Steve Hamilton, among others, have written imaginative, heartbreaking, funny, and bold stories based on this classic American story of hope and despair, each a surprisingly different experiment with character and plot. For as familiar as this story is, Springsteen's spare lyrics leave much unsaid. How these authors fill in the absences is what makes this collection, published a month before the thirtieth anniversary of the release of Springsteen's Born to Run, such an unusual treasure, proving that, just as with music, in literature no two performances are alike. Jessica Kaye is a publishing law attorney, occasional writer and the founder and former publisher of the Publishing Mills, an award-winning audiobook company, as well as a lifelong fan of great music and great writing. Richard J. Brewer is an author, actor, and voice-over talent for films and audiobooks.

Seven stories of desperation and death from a master of crime fiction Sterling Associates recruited Satcher in the killing fields of Iraq. A marine who learned the brutalities and frustrations of war in Fallujah, Satcher was ideal for Sterling, a shadowy corporation whose business is to kill for America when the CIA can’t. He comes to Guatemala, the deadliest nation in the Americas, to kidnap a Sinaloan cartel member and turn him against his family. There he meets Odilia, an idealistic young lawyer dedicated to raising her country from the mire. Both want to save Guatemala, but Satcher’s method means destroying it first. This new story from the hard-boiled mind of David Corbett is a glimpse into a life most Americans prefer to ignore. Along with the six others in this volume, it provides a glimpse into the darkest corners of the modern world, and a reminder that hope springs even from the bloodiest soil.

Small-Screen Shakespeare is a guide to all the Shakespeare productions available for viewing on computer or TV. From Beerbohm Tree’s silent scene from King John, to Helen Mirren as Prospera and Simon Russell Beale as Falstaff, Peter Cochran gives an expert opinion on the best and the worst, basing his judgements on a lifetime of viewing, teaching, acting and directing. The book covers films, television productions, plays on YouTube, and DVDs of videoed stage productions, as well as cinematic Shakespearean spin-offs such as Throne of Blood and Joe Macbeth. The book is composed of five sections: one on film directors who have specialised in Shakespeare; one on screen versions of individual plays; one on films remaking Shakespeare’s plots in a different idiom; one on films which contain creative references to Shakespeare; and a final review of two famous stage productions.

Clementine is in a rut. Overshadowed by her indomitable female relatives - her stern, politically correct mother, Claude, her foulmouthed racist grandmother Mac, and her sassy, brassy aunt Maddy - she spends her time making props for the Drama school (for a pittance) and for her lover Kurt's Art Happenings (for free). Months after graduation, she is still stuck in the soup kitchen which she shares gladly with her housemate, Angus, and less gladly with a horde of free-loading 'guests'. Even her friendship with Jack, her one-time drama teacher, is thrown into jeopardy when a male student accuses him of sexual harassment. When Clem returns early from a visit to her ailing but outrageous grandmother and discovers Kurt and one of his more dangerous disciples 'locked in earnest discussion, their bodies radiating lust', she comes to the conclusion that the situation has to change. Homicide seems like a tempting option, but she opts instead for flight. In a moment of bravado Clem books a plane ticket to Paris and accidentally embarks on a picaresque series of misadventures with unsuitable foreigners, which drives her to the brink of insanity and eventually makes her take stock of who she is and what she really wants out of life.