"Prisons are hard places to get into and harder yet to get out of," writes Robert Ellis Gordon as he takes you on a remarkable eight-year journey into the Washington State corrections system. As a writing teacher in the state¿s prisons from 1989 until 1998, Gordon had the unique experience of gaining access to the system¿s darkest realms while still being free to walk away from penitentiary confines at the end of the day. His account is aided by essays and stories contributed by six extraordinary inmates--works that give this book an unforgettable edge. Together, Gordon and his students provide revealing glimpses of this vast secret-laden subculture of incarcerated individuals, which nationwide comprises more than two million U.S. citizens. Here is a gallery of portraits of prison life, from the female guard who tantalizes male inmates with her sexuality to the terrified young fish trying to stave off other prisoners. The stories are jarring, harsh, compelling. A surprising--and frequently searing--examination of the prison experience, seen from both inside and out¿ memorable and gripping."--Kirkus Reviews

Famous professor Joseph Wieder was brutally murdered, and the crime was never solved. Years later when literary agent Peter Katz receives an incomplete memoir written by a student of the murdered professor, he becomes obsessed with solving the crime.

A mirror, when clear, reflects an exact representation of any who stand before it. Each gift, imperfection, and scar is seen clearly and in detail. A mirror that is skewed will still portray a reflection, but the reflection will not directly represent reality. This is the general theory behind the famed Funhouse Mirrors, and why they are so intriguing. In an instant, one can see their reality differently. Sometimes we see something we dislike, and other times, we see what we prefer. Louis Bianco believes our perceptions are like mirrors, reflecting what occurs in real life back into our cognition. Skewed perceptions, much like mirrors, will distort our cognition, causing us to see reality differently than what is actually in front of us. America, is our cognition distorted? Through this book, Bianco hopes that each of us can decide for ourselves how accurately our perceptions depict reality. ***** "Louis Bianco once again provides our world with extraordinary testimony that is presented in a well-organized, scientific, and yet graceful manner. In Bianco's first creation, he challenged everything we knew about disability and diagnosis. In this powerful book, he challenges every perception we have about our country, our world, and how we see ourselves in our own 'mirror.' Funhouse Mirrors is a must for every bookshelf. I assure you, you will be grateful for this introspective journey with this gifted and brilliant author." ~ Catherine Hughes, bestselling author, blogger, coach, editor, speaker, and trainer, The Caffeinated Advocate

A con artist and seductress, Meredith Spooner lived fast—and died young. But her final scam—embezzling more than a million dollars from a college endowment fund—is coming back to haunt Leonora Hutton. The tainted money is stashed away in an offshore account for Leonora. And while she wants nothing to do with the cash, she discovers two other items in the safe-deposit box: a book about Mirror House—the place where Meredith engineered her final deception and a set of newspaper stories about an unsolved murder that occurred there thirty years ago. Now Leonora has an offer for Thomas Walker, another victim of Meredith’s scams and seductions. She’ll hand over the money—if he helps her figure out what’s going on. Meredith had described Thomas as “a man you can trust.” But in a funhouse-mirror world of illusion and distortion, Leonora may be out of her league…

DIVA high schooler suspects that a tragic roller coaster crash wasn’t an accident/div DIVIf it weren’t for the Boardwalk, the small town of Santa Luisa might disappear altogether. The amusement park employs half the town’s workers, pulls in tourists, and gives teenagers like Tess Landers someplace to hang out on the weekends. Tess is eating a hot dog when the Boardwalk’s roller coaster—the Devil’s Elbow—jumps the track, hangs for a moment in the air, and then plummets to the ground. One of Tess’s classmates is dead on impact, two are forever maimed, and over twenty others are taken to the hospital. It’s the worst tragedy Santa Luisa has ever seen, but it’s only the beginning./divDIV /divDIVAs people rush to help, Tess spies a black-suited figure running away from the crowd. The crash was no accident. Five more teens will suffer before the killer is through, and Tess may be about to put herself on the list of victims./divDIV /divDIVThis ebook features an illustrated biography of Diane Hoh including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection./div

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • John Barth's lively, highly original collection of short pieces is a major landmark of experimental fiction exploring themes of purpose and the meaning of existence. "[Barth] ran riot over literary rules and conventions, even as he displayed, with meticulous discipline, mastery of and respect for them." —The New York Times From its opening story, "Frame-Tale"--printed sideways and designed to be cut out by the reader and twisted into a never-ending Mobius strip--to the much-anthologized "Life-Story," whose details are left to the reader to "fill in the blank," Barth's acclaimed collection challenges our ideas of what fiction can do. Highlights include the Homerian story-wthin-a-story-within-a-story (times seven) of "Menalaiad,' and "Night-Sea Journey," a first-person account of a confused human sperm on its way to fertilize an egg. All of the characters in Lost in the Funhouse are searching, in one way or another, for their purpose and the meaning of their existence. Together, their stories form a kaleidescope of exuberant metafictional inventiveness.

This poignant debut by Gavin Bradley explores the emotional toll of different kinds of separation: from a partner, a previously held sense of self, or a home and the people left behind. The main narrative describes the deterioration of a long-term relationship, interweaving poems dealing with the loneliness of immigration and the anxiety of separation from Northern Ireland, the poet’s homeland. These personal poems enter their stories through a variety of characters and places, from dock builders to dogs, from shorelines to volcanoes, to “mouths soft and humming like beehives.” Other sections of the collection examine a post-Troubles’ experience in Northern Ireland (evoking the lived-experience of growing up with bombs and domineering Catholicism), tell grandfather stories, and show a lasting love for the people, the language, and the land. Separation Anxiety ultimately conveys a message of hope, reminding us that “we’ll be remembered for / ourselves, and not the spaces we / leave behind.”