Mr Eggers is delighted to bring eager readers another packed issue of McSweeney's, his instructive and highly entertaining corrective to the ills of modern life. McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales, guest edited by the inimitable Michael Chabon, will take you to places you never knew existed, send delicious shivers down your spine, and have your heart pounding healthily in your chest. The ghost story, the horror story, the detective story; stories of suspense, terror, fantasy and the plain macabre - all can be found gracing the pages within. Such celebrated writers as Gaiman, Moody, Hornby, King, Elmore Leonard, Harlan Ellison and Glen David Gold amongst others, have all put pen to paper in celebration of the art of genre.

A Vintage Contemporaries Original Includes: Jim Shepard's "Tedford and the Megalodon" Glen David Gold's "The Tears of Squonk, and What Happened Thereafter" Dan Chaon's "The Bees" Kelly Link's "Catskin" Elmore Leonard's "How Carlos Webster Changed His Name to Carl and Became a Famous Oklahoma Lawman" Carol Emshwiller's "The General" Neil Gaiman's "Closing Time" Nick Hornby's "Otherwise Pandemonium" Stephen King's "The Tale of Gray Dick" Michael Crichton's "Blood Doesn’t Come Out" Laurie King's "Weaving the Dark" Chris Offutt's "Chuck’s Bucket" Dave Eggers's "Up the Mountain Coming Down Slowly" Michael Moorcock's "The Case of the Nazi Canary" Aimee Bender's "The Case of the Salt and Pepper Shakers" Harlan Ellison's "Goodbye to All That" Karen Joy Fowler's "Private Grave 9" Rick Moody's "The Albertine Notes" Michael Chabon's "The Martian Agent, a Planetary Romance" Sherman Alexie's "Ghost Dance"

Michael Chabon is back with a brand-new collection that reinvigorates the stay-up-all-night, edge-of-the seat, fingernail-biting, page-turning tradition of literary short stories, featuring Margaret Atwood, Stephen King, Peter Straub, David Mitchell, Jonathan Lethem, Heidi Julavits, Roddy Doyle, and more! Margaret Atwood- Lusus Naturae David Mitchell- What You Do Not Know You Want Jonathan Lethem- Vivian Relf Ayelet Waldman - Minnow Steve Erickson- Zeroville Stephen King- Lisey and the Madman Jason Roberts - 7C Heidi Julavits- The Miniaturist Roddy Doyle - The Child Daniel Handler - Delmonico Charles D’Ambrosio - The Scheme of Things Poppy Z. Brite - The Devil of Delery Street China Mieville- Reports of Certain Events in London Joyce Carol Oates - The Fabled Light-house at Vi–a del Mar Peter Straub - Mr. Aickman’s Air Rifle

In the land of Volstov, Owen Adamo, the hard-as-nails ex–Chief Sergeant of the Dragon Corps, learns that Volstov’s ruler, the Esar, is secretly pursuing plans to resurrect magically powered sentient robot dragons—even at the risk of igniting another war. Though Adamo is not without friends—the magician Royston and former corpsman Balfour—there is only so much he and his allies can do. Adamo has been put out to pasture, given a professorship at the University. Royston, already exiled once, dares not risk the Esar’s wrath again. And Balfour, who lost both his hands in the war, is now a diplomat—and still trying to master the metal replacements that have earned him various nicknames . . . of which “Steelhands” is the least offensive. But sometimes help comes where it’s least expected. In this case, from two students: Laurence, a feisty young woman raised by her father to be the son he never had, and Toverre, her brilliant if neurotic fiancé. When a mysterious illness strikes the university, Laurence takes her suspicions to Adamo—and unwittingly sets in motion events that will change Volstov forever.

The national bestseller and basis for the Ang Lee film is a “powerful” novel of two troubled families during a blizzard in 1970s suburban Connecticut (Newsday). A potentially devastating blizzard approaches New Canaan, Connecticut, while internal forces of desire, frustration, and ennui threaten to tear apart two quintessentially affluent, suburban families. Elena Hood rightfully suspects her husband, Benjamin, is having an affair with neighbor Janey Williams, while Benjamin resents Elena and his mounting feelings of ineptitude. As the snow begins to fall, Benjamin and Elena, as well as Janey and her husband, attend a neighborhood “key party,” where they and other respectable suburbanites agree to go home with whomever’s keys they draw from a bowl. Meanwhile, the Hoods’ and Williams’s teenage children are caught up in their own experimentations with sex and drugs as they test the boundaries of their structured upbringing. With author Rick Moody’s sharp eye for the nuances of suburban life and allusions to 1970s America from Watergate to the Fantastic Four, the novel’s landscape is vivid and immersive. This timeless, unforgettable novel is a compassionate portrayal of flawed characters and reflects Rick Moody’s sharp eye for the contradictions of suburban life. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Rick Moody including rare images from the author’s personal collection.

In May 2005 Penguin will publish 70 unique titles to celebrate the company's 70th birthday. The titles in the Pocket Penguins series are emblematic of the renowned breadth of quality of the Penguin list and will hark back to Penguin founder Allen Lane's vision of good books for all'. trademark wit and poignancy that have made him one of the UK's most popular writers and one written specially for this volume.