Fifty-four monologues and dialogues, a remarkable distillation of rhythms and nuances from the region of the heart.

A collection of first-person poems taken from the actual conversations of Appalachian people

NATIONAL BESTSELLER ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: VOGUE • FORBES • BOOKPAGE • NEW YORK POST • WIRED “I have not been as profoundly moved by a book in years.” —Jodi Picoult Even after she left home for Hollywood, Emmy-nominated TV writer Bess Kalb saved every voicemail her grandmother Bobby Bell ever left her. Bobby was a force—irrepressible, glamorous, unapologetically opinionated. Bobby doted on Bess; Bess adored Bobby. Then, at ninety, Bobby died. But in this debut memoir, Bobby is speaking to Bess once more, in a voice as passionate as it ever was in life. Recounting both family lore and family secrets, Bobby brings us four generations of indomitable women and the men who loved them. There’s Bobby’s mother, who traveled solo from Belarus to America in the 1880s to escape the pogroms, and Bess’s mother, a 1970s rebel who always fought against convention. But it was Bobby and Bess who always had the most powerful bond: Bobby her granddaughter’s fiercest supporter, giving Bess unequivocal love, even if sometimes of the toughest kind. Nobody Will Tell You This But Me marks the creation of a totally new, virtuosic form of memoir: a reconstruction of a beloved grandmother’s words and wisdom to tell her family’s story with equal parts poignancy and hilarity.

Not since Terry McMillan's `Waiting To Exhale,? has a book been so raw, gritty and honest about love, loss, family, relationships, acceptance and trust and put a voice to the collective frustration felt by millions of people looking for love in all the wrong places?Stories I Wouldn't Tell Nobody But God,? the long awaited, debut novel by Rasheed Clark, is an emotionally charged, provocative and page turning story of four friends, Sista, Brian, Day and Nikki and the rollercoaster ride that they call their lives?Sista, who will lose the only man she ever loved, as she allows her weight to determine her self worth. Brian, who learned the hard way that a good woman isn't hard to find, he just has to be man enough to keep her. Day, who must learn to accept himself for who and what he is. Nikki, whose perfect world is shattered when she loved a man more than she loved herself and it almost, cost her, her life, because of her man's infidelity and lies. Powerfully told, heartwarming and funny, `Nobody But God? will leave you wanting more. `Stories I Wouldn't Tell Nobody But God,? because there are many things, many people tend to keep to themselves, out of fear nobody but God will understand?

Following her prize–winning collection Break Any Woman Down, Dana Johnson returns with a collection of bold stories set mostly in downtown Los Angeles that examine large issues –love, class, race – and how they influence and define our most intimate moments. In "The Liberace Museum," a mixed–race couple leave the South toward the destination of Vegas, crossing miles of road and history to the promised land of consumption; in "Rogues," a young man on break from college lands in his brother's Inland Empire neighborhood during a rash of unexplained robberies; in "She Deserves Everything She Gets," a woman listens to the strict advice given to her spoiled niece about going away to college, reflecting on her own experience and the night she lost her best friend; and in the collection's title story, a man setting down roots in downtown L.A. is haunted by the specter of both gentrification and a young female tourist, whose body was found in the water tower of a neighboring building. With deep insight into character, intimate relationships, and the modern search for personal freedom, In the Not Quite Dark is powerful new work that feels both urgent and timeless.

Jo Carson lays bare her personal investigation into her own creative process after a spider bite on her back begins a series of life-altering events. Spider Speculations applies cutting edge mind-body science, quantum physics and ancient shamanistic techniques to describe how stories work in our bodies and our lives, and what happens when real stories are used in a public way. Carson, whose ability to capture the spoken word hallmarks her community-based work, sets down this story in her own distinctive voice, interspersing the journey with examples of her performance work. This truly original American book will speak to anyone thinking about art and community or engaging with people's stories.