"You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino's new novel...Relax. Concentrate. Dispel every other thought. Let the world around you fade." —from If On A Winter's Night a Traveler Italo Calvino's stunning classic imagines a novel capable of endless possibilities in an intricately crafted, spellbinding story about writing and reading. If on a Winter's Night a Traveler is a feat of striking ingenuity and intelligence, exploring how our reading choices can shape and transform our lives. Originally published in 1979, Italo Calvino's singular novel crafted a postmodern narrative like never seen before—offering not one novel but ten, each with a different plot, style, ambience, and author, and each interrupted at a moment of suspense. Together, the stories form a labyrinth of literature known and unknown, alive and extinct, through which two readers pursue the story lines that intrigue them and try to read each other. Deeply profound and surprisingly romantic, this classic is a beautiful meditation on the transformative power of reading and the ways we make meaning in our lives. "Calvino is a wizard...There is no halting [this book's] metamorphoses." —New York Times Review of Books

Ten classic stories from the master of Hindi literature Nearly a century after they were written, Premchand’s numerous short stories, novels and plays, written both in Hindi and Urdu, continue to be a mirror to Indian society and its traditions. A Winter’s Night and Other Stories brings together, for young readers, some of his most powerful short stories. This is a world inhabited by people like Halku, forced to spend the bitterly cold winter night in the open, without a blanket; Kaki, the old invalid aunt, ill-treated by her own relatives; and Shankar, reduced to being a bonded labour for the sake of a handful of wheat. Premchand describes their plights with unflinching honesty. Yet all is not hopeless in this world. There is also little Hamid, who buys tongs for his old grandmother rather than toys for himself; Ladli, who saves her share of puris for her blind aunt; and Big Brother, trying in vain to remember the strange names of English kings and queens. Greed, dishonesty, cruelty abound in this world, as do kindness, bravery and humour. These ten stories are an ideal introduction to Premchand and his concerns and ideas that remain relevant to this day.

A collection of short stories by thirty-five Native American authors ranging from those who have achieved mainstream success to young writers just starting out.

Set during the first half of the twentieth century, this is the story of the Brunis, a family of farmers from the Italian Padan Plain who have worked the land since time immemorial. And it is a story about the homeless multitudes, travelers, and tinkers, roaming Europe during the hardscrabble nineteen-twenties and thirties. In this expansive novel, these two worlds meet when the Brunis open their great barn and offer it as a refuge for those in need of a warm, dry, and safe place to sleep and eat. The barn becomes font and inspiration for a series of vivid stories involving sundry strangers, the Bruni parents themselves, and their nine children—seven boys and two girls—who will grow into young men and women during World War I and its aftermath. Told in the tradition of country folktales and framed by the devastating years of strife—two world wars and the years of fascism—these stories will delight readers from the first page to the last. Manfredi's A Winter's Night provides a timely reminder that simple values and a sense of solidarity with our fellow human beings remain of vital importance, above all in a world undergoing momentous and rapid change.

One winter's night, Badger arrives in the forest, cold and hungry. Fox, Mouse, and Hare each help as best they can, and Badger goes on his way. But the storm is getting worse, and the animals start to worry ....

A collection of short stories by thirty-five Native American authors ranging from those who have achieved mainstream success to young writers just starting out.

Western Montana looked nothing like it's eastern counterpart. Montana was a state known for sweeping plains and low rolling hills. Western Montana was completely different it was a heavily forested area with mountains, lakes and fresh streams. It was winter, Christmas eve in fact and it was cold outside. The wind howled loudly as it roared down the valley. With the howling of the wind came the even more ominous howling of wolves. "Pa, pa I heard wolves" cried out Terry.