The Made Up Man

"Scapellato's blend of existential noir, absurdist humor, literary fiction, and surreal exploration of performance art merges into something special. . . . The Made-Up Man is a rare novel that is simultaneously smart and entertaining." —Gabino Iglesias, NPR Stanley had known it was a mistake to accept his uncle Lech’s offer to apartment-sit in Prague—he’d known it was one of Lech’s proposals, a thinly veiled setup for some invasive, potentially dangerous performance art project. But whatever Lech had planned for Stanley, it would get him to Prague and maybe offer a chance to make things right with T after his failed attempt to propose. Stanley can take it. He can ignore their hijinks, resist being drafted into their evolving, darkening script. As the operation unfolds it becomes clear there’s more to this performance than he expected; they know more about Stanley’s state of mind than he knows himself. He may be able to step over chalk outlines in the hallway, may be able to turn away from the women acting as his mother or the men performing as his father, but when a man made up to look like Stanley begins to play out his most devastating memory, he won’t be able to stand outside this imitation of his life any longer. Immediately and wholly immersive, Joseph Scapellato’s debut novel, The Made-Up Man, is a hilarious examination of art’s role in self-knowledge, a sinister send-up of self-deception, and a big-hearted investigation into the cast of characters necessary to help us finally meet ourselves.

A Los Angeles Times columnist recounts her eighteen-month undercover stint as a man, a time during which she underwent considerable personal risks as she worked a sales job, joined a bowling league, frequented sex clubs, dated, and encountered firsthand the rigid codes and rituals of masculinity. 80,000 first printing.

Woman Made of Man is a true story about a young girl who loses her womanhood to her brother at a very tender age, before she even knew what the word virginity meant. Caught between being a sibling to her brother and ruining his life, she decides to keep her abuse a secret from her parents for seven years. When she finally decides to reveal the secret to her parents, she does not receive the sympathy or support she expected. Disappointed, Lesedi gives herself to a young man, who gets her pregnant and then deserts her. Lesedi goes through life angry and bitter at her brother until he is lying on his deathbed, suffering from AIDS, and she realises that all that anger was not worth it. It is at that point that she starts to comprehend what it means to forgive. In the midst of grieving for her brother, Lesedi accepts a marriage proposal from a man she thought was a godsend, not knowing that she was letting the devil into her life. After going through a life-threatening divorce, she goes back to her ex-boyfriend. But things dont work out between her and her HIV-positive boyfriend, who pressurises Lesedi to leave her church and religion to join his church. She ends the relationship soon after she is exposed to the risk of contracting the virus and had to take ARV treatment for a month. After years of heartache, Lesedi learns to accept life as it is and to let go. She finally decides to let go of the man she has secretly loved for years, a man who broke her heart by marrying another woman while he was flirting with Lesedi. Just when she is ready to give up on love, Lesedi meets a man she is attracted to and falls in love with him. It is through her cousins tragedy that she realises that Abraham was not brought into her life for love, but that he was a godsend, an angel to deliver messages to Lesedi from God. Finally, after twenty-seven years, Lesedi realises that she has spent most of her life healing from the hurt and sorrow that men have brought into her life. She finds peace, bliss, and happiness by turning to God. They say life begins at forty; Lesedis life begins at twenty-seven.

From the USA TODAY bestselling author of Sweet Thing and Nowhere But Here comes a love story about a Craigslist “missed connection” post that gives two people a second chance at love fifteen years after they were separated in New York City. To the Green-eyed Lovebird: We met fifteen years ago, almost to the day, when I moved my stuff into the NYU dorm room next to yours at Senior House. You called us fast friends. I like to think it was more. We lived on nothing but the excitement of finding ourselves through music (you were obsessed with Jeff Buckley), photography (I couldn’t stop taking pictures of you), hanging out in Washington Square Park, and all the weird things we did to make money. I learned more about myself that year than any other. Yet, somehow, it all fell apart. We lost touch the summer after graduation when I went to South America to work for National Geographic. When I came back, you were gone. A part of me still wonders if I pushed you too hard after the wedding… I didn’t see you again until a month ago. It was a Wednesday. You were rocking back on your heels, balancing on that thick yellow line that runs along the subway platform, waiting for the F train. I didn’t know it was you until it was too late, and then you were gone. Again. You said my name; I saw it on your lips. I tried to will the train to stop, just so I could say hello. After seeing you, all of the youthful feelings and memories came flooding back to me, and now I’ve spent the better part of a month wondering what your life is like. I might be totally out of my mind, but would you like to get a drink with me and catch up on the last decade and a half? M

The year is 2021. No child has been born for twenty-five years. The human race faces extinction. Under the despotic rule of Xan Lyppiat, the Warden of England, the old are despairing and the young cruel. Theo Faren, a cousin of the Warden, lives a solitary life in this ominous atmosphere. That is, until a chance encounter with a young woman leads him into contact with a group of dissenters. Suddenly his life is changed irrevocably as he faces agonising choices which could affect the future of mankind. NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE

"This new long poem is a departure for Kennelly, a visionary work written out of the body, out of the self, out of the shadowlands between life and death."--Cover.

Reality, it turns out, is often not what you perceive it to be—sometimes, there really is someone out to get you. For fans of Silver Linings Playbook and Liar, this thought-provoking debut tells the story of Alex, a high school senior—and the ultimate unreliable narrator—unable to tell the difference between real life and delusion. Alex fights a daily battle to figure out what is real and what is not. Armed with a take-no-prisoners attitude, her camera, a Magic 8 Ball, and her only ally (her little sister), Alex wages a war against her schizophrenia, determined to stay sane long enough to get into college. She's pretty optimistic about her chances until she runs into Miles. Didn't she imagine him? Before she knows it, Alex is making friends, going to parties, falling in love, and experiencing all the usual rites of passage for teenagers. But Alex is used to being crazy. She's not prepared for normal. Can she trust herself? Can we trust her?

One summer night a little boy follows the person his grandmother calls the man made out of stars to find out what his secret is and where he goes.