Showing results by narrator "Gabra Zackman" in All Categories

From James Leo Herlihy (author of Midnight Cowboy) comes a series of grim yet insightful short stories in his first collection, The Sleep of Baby Filbertson. Both an examination of the darker themes of alienation and isolation and an elevation of the oddities and quirks that make up human nature, Herlihy’s seven tales tackle the anxieties of fragile people and get to the heart of a world inhabited by perennial outsiders.

Jane loses everything when her teenage daughter is killed in a senseless accident. Jane is devastated, but sometime later, she makes one tiny stab at a new life: she moves from San Francisco to the tiny seaside town of Half Moon Bay. She is inconsolable, and yet, as the months go by, she is able to cobble together some version of a job, of friends, of the possibility of peace. And then, children begin to disappear. And soon, Jane sees her own pain reflected in all the parents in the town. She wonders if she will be able to live through the aching loss, the fear all around her. 

Two families assemble for a wedding at a family mansion on the beach in East Hampton. But as the festivities are readied, the father of the bride suffers a massive stroke from alcohol withdrawal and lies in a coma in the hospital. So begins Jeanne McCulloch’s vivid memoir of her wedding weekend in 1983 and its aftereffects on her family and the family of the groom. As McCulloch reveals, the repercussions from that weekend will ripple throughout her own family and that of her in-law as they grapple with questions of loyalty, tradition, marital honor, hope, and loss.

Asking (and answering) the big questions can be terrifying - but it is the only way to put yourself on the path towards living your best life. Big questions can be forces of empowerment, motivation and clarification. The editors at O, The Oprah Magazine have combed through the magazine’s extensive archives to assemble O’s Little Guide to the Big Questions, a collection of stirring, motivating, thought-provoking pieces from great writers and celebrated thinkers, that offers wise guidance and inspiration to anyone feeling lost or in need of a reset.

This debut romantic novel from music industry insider Witt Stewart explores the transformative power of love, connections that transcend time, and how quirks of fate can change life in an instant. A successful photographer who specializes in documenting live concerts of A-list bands, Brad Sullivan's love of music is entwined throughout all aspects of his daily life, with certain songs and artists chronicling the emotions of his past, present, and future. They mark the happiest and saddest points in time for him, and help him make sense of his journey on Earth.

Snow isn't all that's falling in Denver, Colorado, on Christmas Eve. A beautiful, young district attorney tumbles from her balcony to her death. Police suspect suicide, but the DA’s sister, newspaper reporter Samantha Church, isn’t buying it. Samantha discovers evidence linking her sister to a drug smuggling case and quickly learns she has stumbled onto a major news story. She must summon the courage to not only face a cartel of criminals, but her own fears and shortcomings when she is confronted by the inescapable specter of a far greater enemy - her addiction to alcohol.

Welcome to essayist Kimberly Harrington’s poetic and funny world of motherhood, womanhood, and humanhood, not necessarily in that order. It’s a place of loud parenting, fierce loving, too much social media, and occasional inner monologues where timeless debates are resolved such as Pro/Con: Caving to PTO Bake Sale Pressure (“Pro: Skim the crappiest brownies for myself. Con: They’re really crappy.”) With accessibility and wit, she captures the emotions around parenthood in artful and earnest ways.

Norwich, a charming Vermont town of roughly 3,000 residents, has sent an athlete to almost every Winter Olympics for the past 30 years - and three times that athlete has returned with a medal. How does Norwich do it? To answer this question, New York Times reporter Karen Crouse moved to Vermont, immersing herself in the lives of Norwich Olympians past and present. There she discovered a culture that's the opposite of the hypercompetitive schoolyard of today's tiger moms and eagle dads.

When the storm clouds gather, only the bravest answer the call. Abbey and Dustin head to the Storm Wall to investigate a series of Barskall attacks. They arrive in the midst of a battle and discover an unlikely ally. They soon learn of a powerful weapon they can use to stop Dahlia and her seafaring pirates... If they can find it in time. The search will take them deep into enemy territory where their only hope for survival is the resourcefulness of their small but feisty crew.

Charles has been gone for months, and Mimi's not feeling like being a private detective anymore. She's had it with the liars and the cheats. Speaking of liars and cheats, when she takes on a missing person case for a new client, she's thrown into a web of lies and deceit that ends in murder. Come along as, once again, Mimi Capurro butts heads with her homicide detective boyfriend, Nick Christianson, when their cases cross paths. What surprises do her client and employees have in store?

What could possibly go wrong with Charles attending a vintage wine auction preview? This is the Gotcha Detective Agency, after all, and what goes wrong makes Mimi and Charles's head spin. And not from too much wine. Mimi, Charles, and Nick fall into a twisted tale of wine fraud and murder in this latest installment of the Gotcha Detective Agency Mystery series.

Bridgette Connor is a woman on the edge. Her career is in tatters, her relationship is doomed, and after an ill-fated pregnancy she terminates against her better judgement, she does the one thing she's always done best. She runs. Her car careens off the road, leaving her battered, bruised, and beaten. It is then that she meets the woman who will change her life. When the bloodied and broken Bridgette Connor collapses at her door, Alexis does the one thing she's always done best. She helps.

A thoughtful collection of soul-soothing writing, O's Little Book of Calm & Comfort is the antidote to life's trying times. Featuring essays and interviews from some of the most celebrated contributors to O, the Oprah Magazine, this heartening collection offers solace, wisdom and connection. Among the highlights: Nora Ephron on the state of rapture that comes from a good book; Maeve Binchy on friends; and a conversation between Oprah and the American Buddhist nun Pema Chodron.

A thoughtful collection of soul-soothing writing, O's Little Book of Calm & Comfort is the antidote to life's trying times. Featuring essays and interviews from some of the most celebrated contributors to O, the Oprah Magazine, this heartening collection offers solace, wisdom, and connection.

After twenty years of the American Dream, this AADD afflicted heroine is suddenly alone, left to review where she went wrong. She has mastered her dread of expressway driving but can't sleep without the radio. She despairs that she cooked seven thousand evening meals but sometimes, she misses that awful deadening life. She thinks aerobics and weight training might be the answer but there has to be something more. She joins an Obesity Study to look for her inner self but it freaks her out.

The beautiful, angry Bell has revenge in her heart and Lander Gable in her sights. She's seduced her way into his arms with the intent to destroy his wealthy family. But now that she's there, lust and passion have begun squeezing out that desire for vengeance. It's a dangerous game Bell is playing, and sex, mystery, and lies are the most intriguing game pieces of all.

Pittsburgh has recently (and more than once) been called the most livable city in America; yet the old image of smoky skies and steel mills spewing forth grit has never quite disappeared. Its history as a dirty industrial center is a part of its residents, a part of their toughness. The people of the steel city fight.

Alexander Porter is on the phone with his six-year-old son when he is struck by lightning and killed. It is a freak accident, without meaning or justice. Alex’s sudden death disintegrates his family. His mother takes off for a new life in California. His father descends into kleptomania. His ex-wife begins selling makeup door to door. His sister mourns by taking Sam, Alex’s son, on a journey into the family’s past, putting her own life on hold. Young Sam, who heard his own father die, has gone silent.

Modern stories for modern times, Crash Diet is at once brilliant and bitter, happy and heartbreaking. In 11 stories, acclaimed novelist Jill McCorkle tells the varied tales of today's southern women, the lives they end up leading, and the loves that distract them. Sandra knows that the best revenge is her ex-husband's credit card; Ruthie is stuck owning a motel that the highway has bypassed; Anna is a widow who goes to airports and looks in on other people's lives; Bunny waits eagerly for her absent sister's postcards for advice on how to live.

When Jill McCorkle feels a short story coming on, she goes right ahead and "wastes" wonderful ideas instead of hoarding them for a novel. The result is another extraordinary collection of stories and characters. In "It's a Funeral! RSVP," the storyteller is a woman who takes up self-styled "careers" that suit her circumstances. Now she's stumbled onto one that's so successful that she just can't quit. It's planning funerals, what she calls Going Out Parties, in which the clients are the soon-to-be-deceased themselves.