"We lean closer and closer, eager to catch every last word." said The New York Times Book Review. "Bigger, richer, funnier, and more complex than any description of them can convey," said the San Francisco Chronicle. "Some of the funniest and saddest stories ever to cozy up together," said the Los Angeles Times. Welcome to the short stories of Ron Carlson, where strange beach towels turn up in your living room; where the ordinary son of a family of...

Hassan is a culinary ingenue with the gastronomic equivalent of perfect pitch. Displaced from their native India, his family settles in a quaint village in the south of France. They plan to open an Indian restaurant, that is, until Madame Mallory, the owner of a classical French restaurant, gets wind of it. Her icy protests against the new Indian restaurant so near her own escalate to all out war; until Hassan's cooking talent and love for Mme. Mallory's...

The Romans were a powerful force during ancient times, evolving into an empire that spread to much of present-day Europe as well as parts of Africa and the Middle East. They brought their culture and rules of law to the areas they conquered, and left their mark through construction. Aqueducts to provide water, roadways to travel their vast lands, and temples to honor their gods are just some of the structures created by the Romans. This book explores...

The Queen of Mystery has come to Harper Collins! Agatha Christie, the acknowledged mistress of suspense--creator of indomitable sleuth Miss Marple, meticulous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, and so many other unforgettable characters--brings her entire oeuvre of ingenious whodunits, locked room mysteries, and perplexing puzzles to William Morrow Paperbacks. In Death Comes As the End, Dame Agatha transports us back to ancient Egypt 2000 B.C. where...

Having once given up the man she loved because of family objections, Anne Elliot must come to terms with her feelings when years later they meet again.

Offers the true story of the origins of Thanksgiving through a review of the first celebration between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621 and other early festivals, the development of the modern holiday, and ways Americans of different origins celebrate.

"Newlywed painter and sometime somnambulist Angus Lordie might be sleepwalking his way into trouble with Animal Welfare when he lets his dog Cyril drink a bit too much lager at the local bar. The longsuffering Bertie, on the cusp of his seventh birthday party, has taken to dreaming about his eighteenth, a time when he will be able to avoid the indignity of unwanted girl attendees and the looming threat of a gender-neutral doll from his domineering...