In Mirela Roznoveanu's new book of fiction, human love is everywhere but strangely hard to find. Love animates a world where the tangled web of sexuality, commitment, language, place, and history enthralls us with its tantalizing detours, its cruel pretenders, and its unexpected pleasures. These tumultuous pages introduce us to people we can instantly recognize and never forget. From adventures that vividly signal a lifetime's meaning each returns with something new--something utterly different from that which was sought. Here in her first major work in English, we find the pulsing, streaming vision of time, place, history and character that distinguishes Roznoveanu's work in her native Romanian. Roznoveanu restores a visionary spirit lost to English for two or more generations. These stories come to us in the circuitous wake of the great early modernists, offering prodigious healing power for the grave psychic wounds that have afflicted the human condition since the crucial turning point of 1945. The Life Manager and Other Stories scintillates with cascades of luminous images and narrative reversals that seize our attention and don't let go. This is a book to return to again and again for its endlessly intriguing glimpses of the elusive peace and joy our souls thirst for.

From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together

Collection of eight short stories by the author observing absurdity that abounds in the world.