Books published by publisher Persea

Short offers the tradition and glorious present of these popular forms that stretch and defy genre. From 1500 to present, hundreds of pieces. Inventive, entertaining, and addictive. Short prose forms are elusive to define--one writer's prose poem is another's flash fiction or brief essay. Rather than quibble, Short opts for inclusiveness. Here is a dazzling array: 100s of pieces (under 1250 words) from 24 Western countries, written over five centuries by more than 200 contributors, including major authors of every era. Fables, histories, aphorisms, anecdotes, faux dictionary entries, a faux job application, hint fiction, lists, tableaus, meditations, chants, rants, and much more. Intensely pleasurable. Contributors include: Montaigne, von Kleist, Leopardi, Poe, Baudelaire, Bierce, Chopin, Stein, Jacob, Woolf, Kafka, J. Roth, Toomer, Borges, Queneau, Kunitz, Beckett, Milosz, Cortazar, Paz, Barthes, Calvino, O'Hara, Merwin, Lispector, Transtromer, Sanchez, Edson, Simic, Atwood, Valenzuela, Wideman, L. Davis, Komunyakaa, A. Carson, Forche, Harjo, Hempel, Wenderoth, Keret, B. Marcus, A. Bender, Eggers, B. Lerner, T. Brimhall.

The acclaimed multicultural fiction anthology, updated to include recent writers. Thirty-seven short stories from 1900 to the present, written by some of our best authors―African, Asian, European, Jewish, Middle Eastern, and Native American―follow the waves of immigration into and migration within the United States. These stories are unique in time and circumstance, yet they address a common dilemma: how to reconcile America's mythologized "promise" with its more complex reality. New to the collection are Sherman Alexie, Michelle Cliff, Edwidge Danticat, Junot Diaz, Chitra Divakaruni, Jewelle Gomez, Thomas King, Bruce Morrow, Agnes Rossi, and David Wong Louie. They join Toni Cade Bambara, Richard Bausch, Marita Bonner, Nash Candelaria, Sandra Cisneros, Louise Erdrich, Mei Mei Evans, Oscar Hijuelos, Gish Jen, LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka, Kim Yong Ik, Monfoon Leong, Bernard Malamud, Paule Marshall, Nicholasa Mohr, Toshio Mori, Bharati Mukherjee, Mikhail Naimy, Tahira Naqvi, Gregory Orfalea, Grace Paley, Jeanne Schinto, Leslie Marmon Silko, Michael Stephens, Sui Sin Far, Alice Walker, and Hisaye Yamamoto―making this, once again, the most authoritative and useful multicultural collection available.

An astounding compilation of verse from the Web's most cutting-edge poetry archive, including an audio compact disc. From the Fishouse (fishousepoems.org) is a leading on-line audio archive of contemporary poetry that focuses on emerging poets who pay particular attention to the sounds and rhythms of their work. This winning anthology of 175+ poems from the site is a festival of verse at its acoustic best.The book is divided into ten playful sections. Each one, named for a poem within it, underscores the Fishouse modus operandi of showcasing poetry's aural and rhythmic possibilities. For example, "In the Romantic Longhand of the Night" contains poems that work in or around traditional forms, while "The Barrel Is Surely Coming Down the Hill" is comprised of poems that gain momentum as they move. These sections lend a structure to the book that is at once easygoing and enlightening.In addition, the anthology contains these exciting features: a compact disc with unforgettable recitations of many of the printed poems; a foreword by Gerald Stern, which delves into how poetry's aural traditions are producing such cutting-edge new work; lively excerpts from the site's Q&A's with the poets; and a cross-referenced index of the poems' technical and stylistic traits.Contributors to the anthology include many of the best new writers in America, among them Adrian Blevins, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Tina Chang, Paul Guest, Matthea Harvey, James Hoch, Major Jackson, Ilya Kaminsky, Dana Levin, Cate Marvin, Patrick Rosal, Tracy K. Smith, and Brian Turner. Along with dozens of others, these poets make the From the Fishouse anthology a who's who of today's most dynamic versifiers.

Short offers the tradition and glorious present of these popular forms that stretch and defy genre. From 1500 to present, hundreds of pieces. Inventive, entertaining, and addictive.Short offers the tradition and glorious present of these popular forms that stretch and defy genre. From 1500 to present, hundreds of pieces. Inventive, entertaining, and addictive.Short prose forms are elusive to define--one writer's prose poem is another's flash fiction or brief essay. Rather than quibble, Short opts for inclusiveness. Here is a dazzling array: 100s of pieces (under 1250 words) from 24 Western countries, written over five centuries by more than 200 contributors, including major authors of every era. Fables, histories, aphorisms, anecdotes, faux dictionary entries, a faux job application, hint fiction, lists, tableaus, meditations, chants, rants, and much more. Intensely pleasurable.Contributors include: Montaigne, von Kleist, Leopardi, Poe, Baudelaire, Bierce, Chopin, Stein, Jacob, Woolf, Kafka, J. Roth, Toomer, Borges, Queneau, Kunitz, Beckett, Milosz, Cortazar, Paz, Barthes, Calvino, O'Hara, Merwin, Lispector, Transtromer, Sanchez, Edson, Simic, Atwood, Valenzuela, Wideman, L. Davis, Komunyakaa, A. Carson, Forche, Harjo, Hempel, Wenderoth, Keret, B. Marcus, A. Bender, Eggers, B. Lerner, T. Brimhall.

Lovelace's classic novel of Carnival. Carnival takes on social and political importance in this recognized classic. The people of the shantytown Calvary Hill, usually invisible to the rest of society, join the throng and flaunt their neighborhood personas in masquerade during Carnival. Aldrick, the dashing "king of the Hill," becomes a glorious, dancing dragon; his lovely Sylvia, a princess; Fisheye, rebel idealist, a fierce steel band contestant; and Philo, Calypso songwriter, a star. Then a business sponsors Fisheye's band, Philo gets a hit song, and Sylvia leaves the Hill with a prosperous older man. For Aldrick, it will take one more masquerade―this time, involving guns and hostages―before the illusion of power becomes reality.

"It is a treat to have [these stories] pulled together here, reflecting as they do the dignity of individuals and the strength of family bonds across different cultures."―School Library Journal Welcome to America Street, where every story is as vital and unique as the friends, neighbors, and relatives we encounter every day. Here are fourteen stories about young people told by some of America's best storytellers: Duane Big Eagle, Toni Cade Bambara, Robert Cormier, Langston Hughes, Gish Jen, Francisco Jiménez, Mary K. Mazotti, Nicholasa Mohr, Toshio Mori, Leslie Namioka, Naomi Shihab Nye, Grace Paley, Gary Soto, and Michele Wallace.

"With its gamut of emotions, issues and real-life situations, this volume provides high quality reading that all Americans can identify with."―Publishers Weekly Twenty stories, arranged by age of the protagonists, from 4 to 18. Contributors include Barbara Kingsolver, John Updike, Ethan Canin, Ernest J. Gaines, Gish Jen, Alice Walker, Michael Chabon, Toni Cade Bambara, Joyce Carol Oates, Philip Roth, and more.

A treasury of short stories about young people, written by some of the world's best writers. This volume of sixteen stories written by some of the world's best writers--including three Nobel Prize winners--will transport readers to all parts of the globe to meet kindred spirits in other cultures on their journeys to adulthood. In Heinrich Böll's "The Balek Scales," a young German boy heroically tries to redress the centuries of injustice in his village. In Yasunari Kawabata's "The Jay," a girl's interest in a mother jay separated from her young becomes a metaphor for her own estrangement from her father. Set during the Pinochet regime in Chile, "The Composition" by Antonio Skarmeta is the story of a boy who resists betraying his parents through a routine school assignment. In Jamaica Kincaid's "To the Jetty," a teenage girl embarks on her first journey away from her island home of Antigua and into the wider world. Also included are stories by Ama Ata Aidoo (Ghana), Toni Cade Bambara (United States), Italo Calvino (Italy), Anita Desai (India), Elizabeth Jolley (Australia), Naguib Mahfouz (Egypt), Frank O'Connor (Ireland), V. S. Pritchett (England), Valentin Rasputin (Russia), Cora Sandel (Norway), and Xiao Hong (China). An introduction and lengthy biographical notes provide context and give insight into the lives of the authors.