Vonnegut's first collection of short stories, includes 12 wickedly funny stories told as only Vonnegut can.

A New York Times bestseller! From the author of The Traveler’s Gift comes a story of common wisdom based on the remarkable true story of “Jones,” a mysterious old man who has a knack for showing up in people's lives at just the right time, providing priceless lessons about love, life, and the importance of perspective. Orange Beach, Alabama, is a simple town filled with simple people. But like all humans on the planet, the good folks of Orange Beach have their share of problems—marriages teetering on the brink of divorce, young adults giving up on life, businesspeople on the verge of bankruptcy, as well as the many other obstacles that life seems to dish out to the masses. These situations can seem like dead ends, but to an old drifter named Jones with a gift for seeing what others miss, there is no such thing as a dead end. It only takes a little “perspective,” he says, to recognize the miracles in our moments, the seeds of greatness tucked into our struggles. Appearing when things look darkest, the mysterious, elderly man with white hair carrying a battered old suitcase shows up when he’s needed most. “Your time on this earth is a gift to be used wisely,” he says. “Don’t squander your words or your thoughts. Consider even the simplest action you take, for your lives matter beyond measure…and they matter forever.” The Noticer will provide you with: A better understanding of life’s challenges and proper perspective for tackling them Practical yet powerful methods of motivation, encouragement, and resolve for those struggling A fresh and insightful perspective on how people can change their view of the world, find strength, and move beyond their problems Based on a remarkable true story, The Noticer beautifully blends fiction and allegory in an entertaining and inspiring instruction manual for better living. The story of Jones continues in The Noticer Returns and Just Jones.

A defining analysis of the entire span of Kurt Vonnegut's fiction Kurt Vonnegut is one of the few American writers since Mark Twain to have won and sustained a great popular acceptance while boldly introducing new themes and forms on the literary cutting edge. This is the "Vonnegut effect" that Jerome Klinkowitz finds unique among postmodernist authors. In this innovative study of the author's fiction, Klinkowitz examines the forces in American life that have made Vonnegut's works possible. Vonnegut shared with readers a world that includes the expansive timeline from the Great Depression, during which his family lost their economic support, through the countercultural revolt of the 1960s, during which his fiction first gained prominence. Vonnegut also explored the growth in recent decades of America's sway in art, which his fiction celebrates, and geopolitics, which his novels question. A pioneer in Vonnegut studies, Jerome Klinkowitz offers The Vonnegut Effect as a thorough treatment of the author's fiction—a canon covering more than a half century and comprising twenty books. Considering both Vonnegut's methods and the cultural needs they have served, Klinkowitz explains how those works came to be written and concludes with an assessment of the author's place in American fiction.

Bitty is a canary whose courage more than makes up for his diminutive size. Of course, as a miner bird who detects deadly gas leaks in a West Virginia coal mine during the Depression, he is used to facing danger. Tired of perilous working conditions, he escapes and hops a coal train to the state capital to seek help in improving the plights of miners and their canaries. In the tradition of E.B. White, George Selden, and Beverly Cleary's Ralph S. Mouse, Madelyn Rosenberg has written a singular novel full of unforgettable characters.

In this installment in the series, "Dixie finds a tall, handsome tourist loitering around the home of one of her long-time clients. He tells her he's just arrived from Scotland and that he's lost his glasses, which presumably explains why he can't find the house he rented for his seaside vacation. Dixie points him to the bungalow across the street (but not before rebuffing a few of the sexy Scotsman's passes) and then continues about her business. She doesn't think about him again until she stumbles upon a dead body in her client's front hall"--Amazon.com.

Presents a collection of critical essays about Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-five.