Books with title In Exile, and Other Stories

A mind-opening collection of short science fiction from one of the genre’s most revered Grand Masters. Legendary author Robert A. Heinlein proclaimed, “To read science fiction is to read Simak. A reader who does not like Simak stories does not like science fiction at all.” The remarkably talented Clifford D. Simak was able to ground his vast imagination in reality, and then introduce readers to fantastical worlds and concepts they could instantly and completely dig into, comprehend, and enjoy. In the title story, a man’s newfound ability to walk in the past allows him to dwell among dinosaurs, saber-toothed tigers . . . and something even more timeless. In “Construction Shack,” the first manned expedition to Pluto reveals that no matter how advanced aliens may be, even they don’t always get everything right. And in “Univac 2200,” the thin line between humans creating technology and humans becoming technology is about to be crossed—and there may be no going back. Each story includes an introduction by David W. Wixon, literary executor of the Clifford D. Simak estate and editor of this ebook.

A spell that gets you land, money, long golden hair, or a date to the prom can’t be a curse, can it? A curse just gets you dead. Or does it?. . . In these ten stunning short stories, boys and girls learn firsthand just what magic spells, enchantments, and curses really can do. “Give this one to readers who are ready for some sophisticated tales of the supernatural.” —Booklist

Mary Hallock Foote (18470-1938) was an American author and illustrator. She married a mining engineer, Arthur DeWint Foote, and moved to California when he took a job at the New Almaden mine near San Jose. Along the way she wrote stories and novels for publication and illustrated them with her own woodcuts and drawings. She is best known for her stories, in which, as in her drawings, she portrays vividly the rough picturesque life, especially the mining life, of the West. A collection of prints by her is on permanent exhibit at the Boise Public Library. Her works include Led-Horse Claim: A Romance of a Mining Camp (1883), In Exile and Other Stories (1894), Coeur d'Alene (1894), The Prodigal (1900), The Desert and the Sown (1902), A Touch of Sun and Other Stories (1903), Royal Americans (1910) and The Valley Road (1915).

Nicky Dyer and the schoolmistress sat upon the slope of a hill, one of a low range overlooking an arid Californian valley. These sunburnt slopes were traversed by many narrow footpaths, descending, ascending, winding among the tangle of poison-oak and wild-rose bushes, leading from the miners' cabins to the shaft-houses and tunnels of the mine which gave to the hills their only importance. Nicky was a stout Cornish lad of thirteen, with large light eyes that seemed mildly to protest against the sportive relation which a broad, freckled, turned-up nose bore to the rest of his countenance; he was doing nothing in particular, and did it as if he were used to it. The schoolmistress sat with her skirts tucked round her ankles, the heels of her stout little boots driven well into the dry, gritty soil. There was in her attitude the tension of some slight habitual strain—perhaps of endurance—as she leaned forward, her arms stretched straight before her, with her delicate fingers interlocked.

A spell that gets you land, money, long golden hair, or a date to the prom can’t be a curse, can it? A curse just gets you dead. Or does it?. . . In these ten stunning short stories, boys and girls learn firsthand just what magic spells, enchantments, and curses really can do. “Give this one to readers who are ready for some sophisticated tales of the supernatural.” —Booklist

“Michael Marcus takes us on a wild adventure through the darkest depths of addiction, sexuality, deceit, and depravity with a raw grace and eloquence that brings to mind the voices of Jim Carroll in THE BASKETBALL DIARIES, Irvine Welsh in TRAINSPOTTING, Denis Johnson in JESUS’ SON, and Junot Diaz in DROWN. Not for a moment do we question our narrator’s truth as he depicts larger-than-life characters who are in a constant struggle to survive. “Marcus has an engaging voice as an author that is matched by his raucous humor. To read #1 SON is an experience of monumental proportions. A powerful, fresh new voice has taken center stage on the literary scene.” --Jon Hess, from his introduction