Il cerchio si apre con Alice, aspirante showgirl che incontra il futuro marito su una nave da crociera e va a vivere con lui in Francia, per poi abbandonarlo con l'intento di proseguire la carriera nella danza. La donna, tuttavia, soccomberà alle umiliazioni inflittele dal suo insegnante, Duncan, che a sua volta sarà abbandonato da Andre e proverà a consolarsi con Carl, un giovane cantante che ripropone nei suoi brani i sonetti di Gaspara Stampa, considerandola un'antesignana del blues. Così, proprio la poetessa prende vita per raccontare la storia dei suoi amori e della sua arte nella Venezia del Sedicesimo secolo. Di lei scrive Rilke nelle Elegie duinesi, lette da Tom, un hippie giramondo che si trova a dover fare i conti con la paternità e l'imprevedibilità della sua compagna, e che in seguito si innamora di una donna la cui bisnonna era missionaria in Cina. Da qui, dal paese della Grande muraglia, la catena prosegue per narrare le vicende di una coppia di predicatori coinvolta nella rivolta dei Boxer. A chiudere un cerchio dalla circonferenza tanto ampia è la ricomparsa di Alice. Di lei si innamora Giles, proveniente da una famiglia molto cattolica, che si avvicina al buddismo dopo un lutto difficile da ricondurre alla realtà. Le storie narrate da Silber si intrecciano, i suoi personaggi si inseguono, in un'opera ricorsiva e ammaliante che celebra la devozione in tutte le sue forme: a un'arte, a una fede, a un luogo, a una persona, a un amore. Un'instancabile ricerca di nuovi paradisi, appunto, dove poter iniziare una nuova vita.

New York, ottobre 2012. Mentre la città si prepara all'arrivo dell'uragano Sandy, la giovane Reyna, madre single, è impegnata a gestire il complicato rapporto con Boyd, il suo nuovo ragazzo appena uscito dal carcere di Rikers Island. Nonostante sia in libertà vigilata, Boyd ha ripreso a frequentare i vecchi amici, iniziando a contrabbandare sigarette dalla Virginia. E ora vuole trascinare nell'impresa anche Reyna, perché ha bisogno di qualcuno che guidi oltre il confine di Stato. Quando lei all'ultimo momento si tira indietro, le conseguenze della sua scelta finiranno per stravolgere la vita di tante altre persone. Tra loro Claude, che aveva deciso di sostituirla al volante, e sua sorella Lynette; e poi Darisse, un'infermiera che Claude aveva conosciuto durante i traffici illegali a Richmond; e infine Teddy, un camionista che vive sulle autostrade, diviso tra due amori e uscito a fatica dall'alcolismo. Ma forse c'è ancora tempo per cambiare, per riparare agli errori e provare a ricostruire il futuro, come la città di New York sopravvissuta alla furia del tornado. Le speranze di Reyna risiedono in un vecchio tappeto turco che le ha regalato zia Kiki, tornata in patria dopo un lungo matrimonio con un commerciante di Istanbul. Proprio quel tappeto, insieme a un'antica tavoletta trafugata con altri reperti archeologici da tre tedeschi conosciuti da Kiki in Cappadocia, è l'oggetto prezioso cui si legano le storie di tutti i personaggi di questo romanzo a più voci, la tessera centrale di un raffinato mosaico narrativo costruito con mano sapiente da Joan Silber.

The O. Henry Prize Stories 2014 gathers twenty of the best short stories of the year, selected from thousands published in literary magazines. The winning stories roam the world, from Nigeria to Venice, from an erupting volcano in Iceland to a brothel in the old Wild West. They feature a dazzling array of characters: a young American falling in love in Japan, a girl raised by snake-handling fundamentalists, an old man mourning his late wife, and a fierce guard dog with a talent for escape. Accompanying the stories are the editor’s introduction, essays from the eminent jurors on their favorite stories, observations from the winning writers on what inspired them, and an extensive resource list of magazines.

Mark Haddon, “The Gun,” Granta
Stephen Dixon, “Talk,” The American Reader
Tessa Hadley, “Valentine,” The New Yorker
Olivia Clare, “Pétur,” Ecotone
David Bradley, “You Remember The Pin Mill,” Narrative
Kirstin Valdez Quade, “Nemecia,” Narrativemagazine.com
Dylan Landis, “Trust,” Tin House
Allison Alsup, “Old Houses,” New Orleans Review
Halina Duraj, “Fatherland,” Harvard Review
Chanelle Benz, “West of the Known,” The American Reader
William Trevor, “The Women,” The New Yorker
Colleen Morrissey, “Good Faith,” The Cincinnati Review
Robert Anthony Siegel, “The Right Imaginary Person,” Tin House
Louise Erdrich, “Nero,” The New Yorker
Rebecca Hirsch Garcia, “A Golden Light,” Threepenny Review
Chinelo Okparanta, “Fairness,” Subtropics
Kristen Iskandrian, “The Inheritors,” Tin House
Michael Parker, “Deep Eddy,” Southwest Review
Maura Stanton, “Oh Shenandoah,” New England Review
Laura van den Berg, “Opa-Locka,” The Southern Review

The Jurors on Their Favorites: Tash Aw, James Lasdun, Joan Silber
The Writers on Their Work
Publications Submitted

When is it wise to be a fool for something? What makes people want to be better than they are? From New York to India to Paris, from the Catholic Worker movement to Occupy Wall Street, the characters in Joan Silber’s dazzling new story cycle tackle this question head-on.

Vera, the shy, anarchist daughter of missionary parents, leaves her family for love and activism in New York. A generation later, her own doubting daughter insists on the truth of being of two minds, even in marriage. The adulterous son of a Florida hotel owner steals money from his family and departs for Paris, where he takes up with a young woman and finds himself outsmarted in turn. Fools ponders the circle of winners and losers, dupers and duped, and the price we pay for our beliefs.

Fools is a luminous, intelligent, and rewarding work of fiction from the author for whom the Boston Globe said, 'No other writer can make a few small decisions ripple across the globe, and across time, with more subtlety and power.'

When is it wise to be a fool for something? What makes people want to be better than they are? From New York to India to Paris, from the Catholic Worker movement to Occupy Wall Street, the characters in Joan Silber’s dazzling new story cycle tackle this question head-on.

Vera, the shy, anarchist daughter of missionary parents, leaves her family for love and activism in New York. A generation later, her own doubting daughter insists on the truth of being of two minds, even in marriage. The adulterous son of a Florida hotel owner steals money from his family and departs for Paris, where he takes up with a young woman and finds himself outsmarted in turn. Fools ponders the circle of winners and losers, dupers and duped, and the price we pay for our beliefs.

Fools is a luminous, intelligent, and rewarding work of fiction from the author for whom the Boston Globe said, 'No other writer can make a few small decisions ripple across the globe, and across time, with more subtlety and power.'

Wedding production is unique in that every shot must be obtained in a single take, as in documentary filmmaking, but the client expects the finished product to look like a feature film, with perfect capture of every moment. Getting good-looking footage, while fighting problems such as loud settings, uncontrollable light and rapid scene changes, make wedding videography very challenging compared to other types of filmmaking. 'Wedding Videography: Start to Finish' is the first technical guide that explains how to balance the expectations of the bridal couple with the realities of single-take shooting. These discrepancies will be explained through lessons in gear selection, shot set-up, how to work in poorly lit conditions, and how to make the best of bad angles, audio and light. The book further explains how to improve and stylize footage through editing and post production techniques. With 'Wedding Videography: Start to Finish,' video amateurs and professionals new to wedding coverage alike will find a complete guide on every aspect of becoming a successful wedding videographer, from selecting production gear and software through the shooting and editing process, and even the business aspects of the wedding industry including client expectations, wedding etiquette, legal issues and product delivery.

For pediatric nurse practitioners and family nurse practitioners preparing to take certification exams, this text reviews, in an outline format, growth and development, health promotion and maintenance, and common disorders by body system, with information on their etiology, signs and symptoms, clinical findings, differential diagnoses, tests, and management and treatment. Silbert-Flagg and Sloand (Johns Hopkins U. School of Nursing) include discussion of test taking strategies and pediatric nurse practitioner role development, current trends, policy issues such as credentialing, legal issues, legislation, reimbursement, and delivery systems. Test questions conclude each of the 16 chapters, which are by pediatric nurse practitioners and specialists from the US. The book is a revision of the 2004 text published by Virginia Layng Millonig and Caryl Mobley. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

An intricate web of crossed paths and enlightening journeys teach each of Joan Silber's characters something about “the size of the world” in this richly imagined novel. A National Book Award finalist for her last book, Silber here addresses the timeless topics of love, loss, yearning, and forgiveness. She “does brilliant justice to the many ways we have of being human” (Seattle Times) and “offers a dizzying array of insights as she cuts back and forth between stories set in the U.S. and Asia” (Chicago Tribune).