Ben Marcus achieved cult status and gained the admiration of his peers with his first book, The Age of Wire and String. With Notable American Women he goes well beyond that first achievement to create something radically wonderful, a novel set in a world so fully imagined that it creates its own reality.
On a farm in Ohio, American women led by Jane Dark practice all means of behavior modification in an attempt to attain complete stillness and silence. Witnessing (and subjected to) their cultish actions is one Ben Marcus, whose father, Michael Marcus, may be buried in...

A collection of powerful stories by one of the masters of Russian literature, illustrating Fyodor Dostoyevsky's thoughts on political philosophy, religion and above all, humanity.

From the primitive peasant who kills without understanding that he is destroying a human life, to the anxious antihero of Notes From Underground--a man who both craves and despises affection--this volume and its often-tormented characters showcase Dostoyevsky's evolving outlook on man's fate. The compelling works presented here were written at distinct periods in the author's life, at decisive...

"In twenty-nine separate but ingenious ways, these stories seek permanent residence within a reader. They strive to become an emotional or intellectual cargo that might accompany us wherever, or however, we go. . . . If we are made by what we read, if language truly builds people into what they are, how they think, the depth with which they feel, then these stories are, to me, premium material for that construction project. You could build a civilization with them." --Ben Marcus, from the Introduction
Award-winning author of Notable American Women""Ben Marcus brings us this engaging and...

Surfing has inspired fantastic and colorful graphic designs to advertise surfboards, surf shops, wax, wetsuits, magazines..., even skateboards and snowboards. Here are more than 1,250 to challenge collectors, inspire artists, and charm the surfing crowd. Written by a veteran enthusiast who knows his way around the surfing world, this exhibit-in-a-book, from many private collections and institutions, is the most comprehensive surf show ever attempted. Here are stickers, patches, and decals from before 1920 until today, documenting the history of surfing worldwide and providing classic and...

By turns hilarious and heartfelt, dark and illuminative, Ben Marcus s Leaving the Sea is a ground breaking collection of stories from one of the single most vital, extraordinary, and unique writers of his generation.
In the heartfelt I Can Say Many Nice Things, a washed-up writer toying with infidelity leads a creative writing workshop on board a cruise ship. In the dystopian Rollingwood, a divorced father struggles to take care of his ill infant, as his ex-wife and colleagues try to render him irrelevant. In Watching Mysteries with My Mother, a son meditates on his mother s...