Teller Of Tales

After his unfortunate clothing story, the Emperor's elderly reporter is ordered to write fairy tales, and with the help of a reluctant streetwise girl, comes up with a whole new slant on the old classics

Winner of the 1999 Edgar Award for Best Biographical Work, this is "an excellent biography of the man who created Sherlock Holmes" (David Walton, The New York Times Book Review) This fresh, compelling biography examines the extraordinary life and strange contrasts of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the struggling provincial doctor who became the most popular storyteller of his age. From his youthful exploits aboard a whaling ship to his often stormy friendships with such figures as Harry Houdini and George Bernard Shaw, Conan Doyle lived a life as gripping as one of his adventures. Exhaustively researched and elegantly written, Daniel Stashower's Teller of Tales sets aside many myths and misconceptions to present a vivid portrait of the man behind the legend of Baker Street, with a particular emphasis on the Psychic Crusade that dominated his final years--the work that Conan Doyle himself felt to be "the most important thing in the world."

Hunter Davies has set off on an adventure to search out the man and his motivation, following him in the past and in the present, visiting his birthplace in Edinburgh, France, California and his final home in the Pacific. His book is half travel, half biography, but all of it is entertaining, amusing and informative.

Civil-servant-turned-schoolteacher Arunava Varman is secretive and reticent. But he turns into an inspired teller of tales after a couple of drinks, especially in the company of his friend, Tapan. Arunava’s bizarre stories—involving friends, family and colleagues—add a dash of excitement to Tapan’s mundane life of a bureaucrat. But over the years, as Tapan gets to know Arunava better, he starts discovering disturbing holes in these tales. Elegant, wistful and full of surprises, this exquisitely crafted first novel combines the suspense of a thriller with the tender charm of a love story.

"Janitor" is a story about a man whose skin pigments happen to be predominantly black, who exists in Southern society before the advent of a kinder and gentler America. Although he is not treated with respect at his custodial job or in town, he is the embodiment of affability and graciousness. One day, something dramatic happens to alter the shameful attitude of his fellow citizens toward him. "Love" is about the inviolate affection between a father and his daughter. As she lies dying on a hospital bed, he faithfully attends to her every need; it is here that we see their special bond, and the deep sorrow that compels him to desperate measures. "The Whispering Bells" is a tale about tiny creatures that seek adventure and excitement as they soar throughout the galaxies. Sometimes, they form long lines and watch young Bells catch meteoroids and perform entertaining routines on them. One of these Bells is not so cautious and he lands on a planet where he cannot fly, and this is where his real journey begins. "Crashing Into You" examines the life of a beautiful young woman and the consequences of her irresponsible actions. She speeds everywhere she goes, never thinking that her reckless driving might hurt someone; but one day she does hurt someone and goes to jail, and when she comes out, she is forced to examine her past life and the people she affected. "March of Life" takes place during World War II. American and Filipino soldiers are on a forced march by Japanese captors who mistreat and often murder those prisoners who displease them or who are unable to physically make the trek. One of the Japanese soldiers does not agree with this inhumane treatment. He finds a way to leave the island, but unfortunately lands on the Chinese coastline, and must somehow survive the very people his country is seeking to commit genocide against. "Autograph" profiles an old man who has had decades of nightmares about his role in the horrific bombing of another nation. He eventually realizes that he must go to this country and make amends with the people, but once there, he finds it is not an easy task. "Of Greater Significance than Mammon" begins with a dying man struggling to move along a snow-covered road. He is trying to get to the house where his wife and precious daughter live, but he soon collapses. A Good Samaritan comes along and learns from this man that there are assassins coming to kill the man's family. The youth now must make a decision to run, merely help, or take action. "100" depicts the struggles of one hundred men in a bleak desert. They are cogitating on the methods to prevent a fast-moving truck with a deadly cargo from reaching a nearby city. These bald-headed men, dressed in beige clothes, have no weapons and very little time to resolve this dilemma. "Soul Love" begins with a man holding onto the railing of a boat, his other hand grasping his wife's as she dangles above a tempestuous sea. Soon his grasp will weaken and she will fall into the boiling cauldron-but when his hold on her is gone, something miraculous happens. "A Purpose Given" profiles a wandering man who appears to be just like every bum or hobo who inhabits the landscape, but his past life was exemplary, and due to tragic circumstances, he has voluntarily left home and hearth to look for a greater purpose beyond his own life, and finds it.

An astonishing novel about redemption and forgiveness from the “amazingly talented writer” (HuffPost) and #1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult. Some stories live forever... Sage Singer is a baker. She works through the night, preparing the day’s breads and pastries, trying to escape a reality of loneliness, bad memories, and the shadow of her mother’s death. When Josef Weber, an elderly man in Sage’s grief support group, begins stopping by the bakery, they strike up an unlikely friendship. Despite their differences, they see in each other the hidden scars that others can’t. Everything changes on the day that Josef confesses a long-buried and shame­ful secret and asks Sage for an extraordinary favor. If she says yes, she faces not only moral repercussions, but potentially legal ones as well. With the integrity of the closest friend she’s ever had clouded, Sage begins to question the assumptions and expectations she’s made about her life and her family. In this searingly honest novel, Jodi Picoult gracefully explores the lengths to which we will go in order to keep the past from dictating the future.

In a time of drought in the Kingdom of Morocco, a storyteller and a boy weave a tale to thwart a Djinn and his sandstorm from destroying their city.

‘A carnival of a book, rigorously researched and jostling with life’ —Amy Jeffs, author of Storyland Who were the Fairy Tellers? In this far-ranging quest, award-winning author Nicholas Jubber unearths the lives of the dreamers who made our most beloved fairy tales: inventors, thieves, rebels and forgotten geniuses who gave us classic tales such as ‘Cinderella’, ‘Hansel and Gretel’, ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘Baba Yaga’. From the Middle Ages to the birth of modern children’s literature, they include a German apothecary’s daughter, a Syrian youth running away from a career in the souk and a Russian dissident embroiled in a plot to kill the tsar. Following these and other unlikely protagonists, we travel from the steaming cities of Italy and the Levant, under the dark branches of the Black Forest, deep into the tundra of Siberia and across the snowy fells of Lapland. In the process, we discover a fresh perspective on some of our most frequently told stories. Filled with adventure, tragedy and real-world magic, this bewitching book uncovers the stranger lives behind the strangest of tales.