Tales For An Unknown City

Tales for an Unknown City is a vibrant selection of almost fifty stories from among the many told at One Thousand and One Friday Nights of Storytelling, a weekly open gathering in Toronto begun by Dan Yashinsky in 1978 and still going strong. There are tales from Canada and many other parts of the world; each followed by a brief word from the teller, giving us the flavour of the "Friday Nights."

Ronald Vivian Smith is an author of personal experiences – a rare breed to find in a time when even journalists hesitate to put pen to paper without scanning through the internet. A definitive voice when it comes to some known and unknown tales and an inspiration to a new generation of city-scribes, Smith is a master-chronicler of Delhi’s myriad realities. Among the capital’s most ardent lovers, Smith believes in the power of observation and interaction. His travels across Delhi, most often in a DTC bus, examine the big and small curiosities – seamlessly juxtaposing the past with the present. Be it the pride he encounters in the hutments of one of Chandni Chowk’s age-old beggar families, or his ambling walks around Delhi’s now-dilapidated cemeteries, Smith paints with his words a city full of magic and history. This anthology features short essays on the Indian sultanate, its fall after the British Raj, and its resurrection to become what it is today – the National Capital Territory of Delhi. ‘No amount of bookish knowledge can compete with the sort of insights and real, lived memories he [Smith] has.’ —Rakshanda Jalil, LiveMint ‘... When it comes to writing on monuments of Delhi – known, little known or unknown – no one does a better job than R.V. Smith.’ —Khushwant Singh, Hindustan Times

Deep inside Calgary's glass office towers beats a Wild West heart. It's a city of contradictions, a shiny corporate giant with a six-gun justice past. Calgary: The Unknown City ferrets out Cowtown's deepest secrets, exposing fun and offbeat factoids, anecdotes, and statistics about the city you only thought you knew.

"Chicago's most famous stories tend to crowd out the competition and shout down alternate perspectives. Visit with the man who founded a 150-year-long Chicago political dynasty. Take a peek at some of the lesser-known Chicago film classics. Review Professor Moriarty's Chicago caper and Annie Oakley's cocaine case. Uncover the lengths to which Chicago's long celebrated Mr. Pioneer Settler went to keep a slave. Discover why the Kennedy curves at Division Street and why the county jail saved a gallows for fifty years. From Death Valley Scotty's wild ride to the bowling ball that went around the world, John Schmidt provides a parade of Chicago originals."--Provided by publisher.

In the Lovecraftian universe there exists many terrible and horrifying things, from extraterrestrial gods and portentous nightmares, to zealous cults, supernatural beasts and beyond. Perhaps some of the most terrifying imagery, however, originates from Lovecraft's hellish cities. This volume contains a collection of some of Lovecraft's most chilling horror fiction all containing reference to one of his nightmarish cities. A fantastic collection of classic horror fiction highly recommended for lovers of the genre. The stories include: “The Nameless City”, “What the Moon Brings”, “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, “The Dreams in the Witch House”, “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, and “The Quest of Iranon”. Other notable works by this author include: “At the Mountains of Madness”, “The Rats in the Walls”, and “The Shadow Over Innsmouth”. Read & Co. is publishing this classic collection of short stories now in a new edition complete with a dedication by George Henry Weiss.

A look beyond design process and buildings aimed at discoveringnew ways of looking at the urban experience.

In this revised follow-up to Victoria: Secrets of the City, former Monday Magazine editor Ross Crockford (co-author of Victoria: Secrets) delves further into the hidden intrigues of Canada's westernmost provincial capital, whose polite, "just-like-England" exterior conceals a surprisingly quirky and rough-edged heart. Victoria has long been a city of contradictions; the home of the unfortunately phrased "newly wed and nearly dead" is also where you will find one of North America's oldest Chinatowns; where tales of secret satanic cults abound; and where the flowers bloom so early in the year, it's no surprise that Victoria is regularly named one of the world's (yes, the world's) top tourist destinations. Ross Crockford takes readers on a tour of the city's best-kept culinary, shopping, and bar-hopping secrets, along with little-known facts that will beguile tourists and residents alike. There are directions to find remnants of the original Fort Victoria, 150 years after it was demolished; details on a nearby island purchased for Marilyn Monroe by her secret lover; a list of infamous criminals who got caught in Victoria, from Brother XII to Ahmed Ressam; and even advice on how to avoid long waits and bad seats on the BC Ferries. So raise your teacup and make a toast to the outrageous, shocking, and glorious gems to be found in Victoria: The Unknown City. Now in 2nd printing.

In this treasury of Gotham's secrets--some dark, some light, and some just plain weird--there are tales of underground sex clubs, a secret tunnel in Grand Central Station, an electrocuted elephant at Coney Island, and little-known bars, cafes, hangouts, and other places to frolic.