The Last Hiccup

“A strange and surprisingly touching novel about how people find good and evil where they look for them” (Booklist). In 1930s Russia, an eight-year-old boy named Vladimir is suddenly stricken with a chronic case of the hiccups. He soon finds himself spirited away to a Moscow hospital by the famous physician Sergei Namestikov, who puts him through a series of extraordinary—and often bizarre—treatments in an effort to find a cure. Then Sergei’s chief medical rival, the brilliant Alexander Afiniganov, determines that beneath Vladimir’s blank eyes lurks a pure, unbridled evil—and takes steps to remove the child from polite society. Abandoned by everyone but his hiccups, Vladimir is about to embark on a journey that is funny, poignant, and surreal—and that takes a close look at the nature of good and evil—in this novel, a winner of the Canadian Authors Association Award for Fiction from the author of Hanna Who Fell From the Sky. “A beautifully written novel, part folk tale, part parable.” —Will Ferguson, author of Happiness

A poignant and surreal fable about the nature of good and evil filled with a dazzling cast of characters ... and millions of hiccups A darkly funny, tragic, and ultimately heroic novel set in 1930s Russia, The Last Hiccup is the story of Vladimir, an eight - year - old boy stricken with a case of the hiccups - that lasts over a decade. Put through a series of extraordinary, often bizarre treatments by a famous physician, Sergei Namestikov, Vlad is spirited away from his rural home and doting mother to a hospital in Moscow. But Sergei's chief medical rival, the brilliant Alexander Afiniganov, believes that beneath Vladimir's mirror - less eyes lurks a pure, unbridled evil, and Vlad is removed from polite society. Isolated from everyone and everything - save his hiccups - Vladimir grows up to find inner peace among the hiccupping. On his way back into the world he once knew, through a country now in the midst of war, he encounters many strange people and situations, and worries about what would happen to him should a cure for his now - comforting affliction be found.

A simple introduction to the concept of time.

To cure Jamie's hiccups on the day of the school play, his classmates and some school employees try a series of spectacular cures until Jenna, star of the play, finds a simple way to scare them away.

Poor Little Penguin has a major case of the HIC! hiccups. It all started last week on chili night. Since then he's tried everything to get rid of them, but nothing HIC! works. So when his friend Franklin suggests that a good scare might do the trick, Little Penguin is willing to give it a try. . . . All he needs is a little help from YOU! Can you help Little Penguin HIC! cure his hiccups? From debut author-illustrator Tadgh Bentley, Little Penguin Gets the Hiccups is a sweetly hilarious tale of icebergs, chili, and playful surprises that puts its readers at the very center of the story.

Isn't debt ultimately more of a philosophical concept than a financial one? Indeed, it is seen as a moral fault whose unbridled demands cannot be met. It is repaid by a submission that has become infinite and a vision of work that has been totally deregulated. We are no longer in the age of masters and slaves. We need, as this insightful book shows, to identify new protagonists—no longer bourgeois or proletarians, but new players operating through computerized exchange networks, virtual transaction robots. Such is the fate of speculation, with its dematerialized share-price, worsening debt while evading the scrutiny of the law. Jean-Clet Martin, former program director at the Collège international de philosophie, is the author of numerous books on contemporary thought, including Derrida: un démantèlement de l’Occident and Comprendre Foucault, published by Max Milo.

A hippopotamus with severe hiccups causes chaos until other creatures finally find the right cure.