Elizabeth McCracken Knihy

FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE GIANT'S HOUSE 'A big, glorious novel in every sense, this sprawling family saga...is a funny and big-hearted epic from a seriously gifted wordsmith' Marie Claire Bertha is an enigma to everyone in Salford, Massachusetts - ever since she was discovered unconscious in a New England cemetery with nothing but a bowling ball, a candlepin and fifteen pounds of gold on her person. She has no past to speak of, and her mysterious origin scandalises the townspeople, as does her choice to marry and start a family with Leviticus Sprague, the doctor who revived her. But Bertha is plucky and entrepreneurial, and the bowling alley she opens quickly becomes Salford's most defining landmark. As she changes the town forever, her singular spirit resonating through every board and brick and bone, an epic family saga unfolds, set against the backdrop of twentieth-century America.

Ten months after her mother's death, the narrator of The Hero of This Book walks across London on a quiet Sunday. The city was a favourite of her mother's, and as the narrator wanders the streets, she finds herself reflecting on her mother's life and their relationship. Thoughts of the past meld with questions of the future- back in New England, the family home is now up for sale, its considerable contents already winnowed. The woman, a writer, recalls all that made her complicated mother extraordinary - her brilliant wit, her generosity, her unbelievable obstinacy, her sheer will in seizing life despite physical difficulties - and finds herself wondering how her mother had endured. Even though she wants to respect her mother's nearly pathological sense of privacy, the woman must come to terms with whether making a chronicle of this remarkable life constitutes an act of love or betrayal.

In James, Peggy discovers the one person who's ever really understood her, and as he grows - six foot five at age twelve, then seven foot, then eight - so does her heart and their most singular romance.

One of the most acclaimed writers of our day, award-winning author Elizabeth McCracken is an undisputed virtuoso of the short story, and this new collection features her most vibrant and heartrending work to date. In these stories, the mysterious bonds of family are tested, transformed, fractured, and fortified.

Als der dünne unauffällige Mose Sharp und der dicke lustige Rocky Carter sich begegnen, ist ein Traumpaar der amerikanischen Comedy geboren. In den dreißiger und vierziger Jahren erobern sie Bühne und Leinwand. Doch Enttäuschungen, Vertrauensbrüche, Misserfolge spiegeln immer wieder die unterschiedlichen Lebensentwürfe der beiden Stars - und schließlich ist die Trennung unvermeidlich. Erst Jahrzehnte später, als Mose seine Erinnerungen schreibt, erkennt er, wie viel Raum der Freund in seinem Leben einnimmt. Die hoch gelobte Nachwuchsautorin Elisabeth McCracken erzählt mit der Geschichte von Mose und Rocky zugleich auch die Geschichte eines uramerikanischen Genres, des Vaudeville, das internationale Stars wie Fred Astaire oder die Marx Brothers hervorgebracht hat.