The Man With The Golden Arm

A novel about a young drug addict and his daily encounters as he pursues his eternal quest for means to support his habit.

A novel of rare genius, The Man with the Golden Arm describes the dissolution of a card-dealing WWII veteran named Frankie Machine, caught in the act of slowly cutting his own heart into wafer-thin slices. For Frankie, a murder committed may be the least of his problems. The literary critic Malcolm Cowley called The Man with the Golden Arm "Algren's defense of the individual," while Carl Sandburg wrote of its "strange midnight dignity." A literary tour de force, here is a novel unlike any other, one in which drug addiction, poverty, and human failure somehow suggest a defense of human dignity and a reason for hope.

Lazarus Weathers, a high school senior from the wrong side of the tracks, seeks to protect his half-brother while pitching his way out of poverty, one strike at a time.

Baltimore 1966. Suffering through a summer of heated racial animosity, baseball fans look hungrily to the Orioles to bring new respect to their once-great city. Their young team of no-name kids and promising prospects appears to have been strengthened by the recent addition of veteran slugger Frank Robinson - but the former National League MVP is bad news (it is rumored), washed up and unreliable. To lay these rumors to rest, Robby must play harder than he's ever played before. In his first year in the league, against unfamiliar pitchers in new ballparks, he resoundingly proves his worth -- to his city, his team, and himself -- by delivering a Triple Crown performance. Aided by a hilarious and memorable cast of characters -- the gentlemanly southerner Brooks Robinson and the wickedly inventive prankster Moe Drabowsky, a pitching staff of unknown kids like Jim Palmer and Dave McNally, and a gargantuan yet nimble fielder called Boog" -- Frank Robinson delivers his new team to its first World Series. But before they take it all, the Orioles must unseat the reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers. With America's cities in mounting turmoil, Los Angeles seems like another world altogether, a sunny land of surfers and movie stars. Comfortably dwelling in this higher plane is pitching ace Sandy Koufax, arguably the greatest lefthander in baseball history, behind whom the Dodgers have won two of the previous three World Series, replacing the Yankees as the sport's dominant team. Though battling agonizing arthritis throughout the season, the godlike Koufax has nonetheless persevered to win twenty-seven games in 1966, a personal best. Few outside Baltimore give the Orioles more than a fighting chance against such series veterans as Koufax, Don Drysdale, Maury Wills, Tommy Davis, and the rest. Experts are betting that the Dodgers can sweep it in four. "What transpires instead astonishes the nation, as the greatest pitching performance in World Series history is capped by a redemption beyond imagining." -- Book Jacket

Dove Findhorn is a naïve country boy who busts out of Hicksville, Texas in pursuit of a better life in New Orleans. Amongst the downtrodden prostitutes, bootleggers and hustlers of the old French Quarter, Dove finds only hopelessness, crime and despair. His quest uncovers a harrowing grotesque of the American Dream. A Walk in the Wild Side is an angry, lonely, large-hearted and often funny masterpiece that has captured the imaginations of every generation since its first publication in 1956, and that rendered a world later immortalised in Lou Reed ́s classic song.

Johnny Unitas is widely considered the finest quarterback ever to play the game. Much has been written about his life, but for the first time, Unitas's son, John, writes about his father and reveals information about his family and father's career that has never before been brought to light. For anyone who holds an interest in either Unitas's life or NFL history, John Unitas Jr.'s revealing and touching biography honoring the life and times of his father is a must-read. It sheds light on the character and convictions of the man who has lived on in NFL history, both on and off the field, offering clues to what made him the man and the player he was.