Helen DeWitt Knihy

Malý Ludo vyrůstá bez otce, pouze ve společnosti intelektuálské matky Sibylly a hrdinů Kurosawova filmu Sedm samurajů, hojně doma promítaném a probíraném. Ludo je dítko "zázračné": už v předškolním věku stačil zabrousit do různých vědních oborů, zvládl několik jazyků a přečetl Homéra v originále, jeho jediným přáním je však poznat svého genetického, matkou odpíraného otce. V jedenácti letech po něm začne pátrat a ze svého uzavřeného metodického světa faktů se vydává do nejistoty citů a vzájemných vztahů. Seznamování s lidmi mu nabízí novou cestu poznání, nové zážitky a zkušenosti.

Maman was exigeante—there is no English word–and I had the benefit of her training. Others may not be so fortunate. If some other young girl, with two million dollars at stake, finds this of use I shall count myself justified.Raised in Marrakech by a French mother and English father, a 17-year-old girl has learned above all to avoid mauvais ton ("bad taste" loses something in the translation). One should not ask servants to wait on one during Ramadan: they must have paid leave while one spends the holy month abroad. One must play the piano; if staying at Claridge’s, one must regrettably install a Clavinova in the suite, so that the necessary hours of practice will not be inflicted on fellow guests. One should cultivate weavers of tweed in the Outer Hebrides but have the cloth made up in London; one should buy linen in Ireland but have it made up by a Thai seamstress in Paris (whose genius has been supported by purchase of suitable premises). All this and much more she has learned, governed by a parent of ferociously lofty standards. But at 17, during the annual Ramadan travels, she finds all assumptions overturned. Will she be able to fend for herself? Will the dictates of good taste suffice when she must deal, singlehanded, with the sharks of New York?

Ludo's mother, Sibylla, is obsessed with Kurosawa's famous film, "The Seven Samurai" and it plays as a bizarre running backdrop to his childhood. His search for his real father ends in disappointment but he does find out more than he needs about his mother's shaky past.

Failing salesman Joe has a dream - or rather an outrageous fantasy. Holed up in his trailer, Joe devises a jaw-dropping plan that will stamp out sexual harassment in the workplace and make his fortune. As he turns his life around, 'Lightning Rods' takes us to the very top of corporate America.

Noveller. A collection of short stories which focuses on misfits, artists, and intellectuals, and the perils and contradictions of artistic success in contemporary society