Bøger udgivet af New Meridian Arts

A story set in the 16th century across three continents. Based on the legend that meteorite fragments, known as stones fallen from the sky, are thought to bring immortality to those who possess them. The search for meteorite fragments takes us from Constantinople's Great Bazaar to the other end of the Silk Road in China, as well as Malaysian islands brimming with unique spices, and from the heights of a Tibetan monastery in Lassa to Genoa's fortifications. A veritable cavalcade of sensations that captivate readers, the book leaves a compelling message: we seek shooting star fragments to achieve immortality and try to outlast our passage in this world by building palaces, cathedrals, minarets, and walls; and yet, the true meaning of life is here and now, moment by moment, seemingly fragile but powerful due to our common, universal, human core that unites us all.

Thaddeus Rutkowski's Safe Colors is a novel that tells the story of a biracial boy who grows up in Northern Appalachia and moves as a young adult to New York City. One of the driving forces in his life is the desire to fit in as a person of color in a white society. Further complicating matters is a childhood spent in a difficult family situation. The boy's Polish American father is a frustrated artist who drinks too much, while his Chinese immigrant mother works outside the home, away from the father and children. Over the years, the family shrinks and splits, but the surviving members eventually come back together to rally around their ailing mother.

In the ten prize-winning stories that make up Flashlight Girls Run, we are propelled into new millennium America as the 20th century implodes, and the first decade of the 21st century explodes. Rendered in a swarming lyricism, Dickinson's characters, most of who identify as young women, have already survived great traumas or are in the midst of a life-altering event that changes everything: Jesusita who walks a tightrope between her husband blinded in Iraq and her father-in-law who has fallen in love with her; Bonnie and Nick who are haunted by Afghanistan's Korangal Valley and the illusive snow leopard who makes its home in the remote rocks above the nightmarish fighting; and Bethany, an Iowa girl home from her deployment and missing her left arm, who visits the Wee Blue Inn and sees her first love Moses sitting at the bar. In this collection written in flames and with an eye cocked to the fierce, beautiful blue sky, there's always the possibility of redemption and rising again. Flashlight Girls Run celebrates darkly the music and miracle of being alive.

This Horoscope of the Immigrant evolved from numerous observations and interactions with immigrants from diverse cultures, from careful research of the two zodiacs, Western and Asian, intertwining their differences, likeliness and compatibilities. It is, in the end, an intuitive read, somewhat speculative and playful depicting the psychology of the immigrant torn between his two births, the biological one in his native home and the symbolical one in his adopted land. Any immigrant will admit that each time he meets new people, he is asked: "What year did you come here?"

Father Mike Albertino, worn down by financial problems in his old parish and relentless terrorist bombings in his city, is overwhelmed by his own inability to help terrified people. In the midst of all this chaos, he encounters Jenna, a young woman about his age who, inexplicably, cannot feel fear. Mike and Jenna become friends and through this friendship discover the mysterious causes of her disorder. This novel explores themes of faith, how we know what is real and what is not, and the myriad ways frightened people cope in our increasingly fear-filled world.

Creek Bait by Richard Lutman is a collection of very interesting stories, covering a variety ofthemes and featuring intriguing and well developed characters. There is a lightness in tone, a playfulness of words that reflects the fleeting nature of a sexual relationship between the characters. Then stories are deeply reflective of the human condition, of the enduring quest for a happiness that is elusive, of loss, of pain, and redemption. The world building is impeccable, the writing perceptive and deceptively simple, with words that convey hidden import. One notices the author's sense of setting and how he brings it alive in each story, creating images like the quiet sea below the rough gray and granite cliffs, and the sounds of the surroundings.

This provocative satirical novel dares to question the prevailing notion that the cure-all for society's ills is a heavy dose of positive thinking. Written as a chapter-by-chapter response to the self-help manual The Secret, Son of Soothsayer is both a sprawling family saga and a critical look at the trappings of new age philosophy. The book traces the coming-of-age of narrator Clayton Blaine, who lives in the shadow of a mother so steeped in the cult of positive thinking that she thinks she can alter the universe by the sheer force of concentration. Through a series of sometimes comic, sometimes poignant snapshots of Clayton's adolescence, readers will be captivated by the family's ruinous attempts at enlightenment and moved by their resolve to mine truth from the rubble, no matter the cost.

Bob Bachner's fast-paced novel tells the story of a boy who vows to kill his father for abandoning him and his mother. Moving from a small Hudson Valley town to New York City, he confronts innumerable obstacles on his quest to fulfill that vow. Struggling against the legendary hardships of the megalopolis, he grows from a recognizable American innocent into a resourceful and highly intelligent young man. Through the intimate voice of this new American hero, readers will remember their own, earlier pledges to get even. Killing Jack Armstrong is an engaging novel of an unusual coming of age.

"September 1944. Dr. Julius Matthias feels adrift. Nazi Germany is far from defeated and the war drags on. The world he knew is no more; there is no home for him to return. Are his children, his extended family safe? He has to know their fate before he decides on his own. It is in new liberated Paris that he comes in search of answers"--

"A woman unable to face her lover's death, a boy who puts up with and accepts his mother's burning him with curling irons and waffle makers, a young girl who must save her father from a desperate hunter-these are just some of the many characters presented by Leah Holbrook Sackett in You Don't Know Who You Are Until You've Gone Too Far. And, yes, many of them go too far and put up with more than they should, but, almost without fail, each one gains some small understanding, some peace, and is able to move forward even if only by inches. It is that forward movement provides the hope found in the collection"--

Mrs. Alworth envelops the reader, like a blanket. Tim Castano does an amazing job of pulling the reader inside the characters' heads, and navigating their layers, from their appearances to their inner, vulnerable selves, to how they receive and perceive one another, and ultimately, to how they love. The central relationship is so pure, with no expectation, no promise, no compromise. What a beautiful - but oh so sad - story. Very much like Castano's Quebec, it is an unforgettable read.