Alma Books Babylon Revisited and Other Stories Фицджеральд Фрэнсис Скотт

Sara, the American wife of a French aristocrat, has had two encounters with her compatriot Cedric Killian, one a youthful idyll in North Carolina and the other during the First World War, when he was a soldier about to go to battle. When, years later and after the death of her husband, Cedric contacts her out of the blue, Sara finds herself eager to see him again – against the wishes of her in-laws – and to find out the secret of this man she loves yet knows so little about • A poignant tale of thwarted love, ‘The Intimate Strangers’ explores many of Fitzgerald’s favourite themes, such as the constraints of society on romance and the American fascination for Old Europe. This volume also includes other lesser-known stories he wrote from the mid-1930s until the end of his life, revealing new facets to the author of The Great Gatsby and Tender Is the Night

A young Harvard graduate with bright prospects, Bill Frothington is invited on board a steamer hosting a high-school dance, where he meets and falls in love with the seventeen-year-old Mae. As the match is not considered socially advantageous enough, Bill moves on, marries and has a career, but he remains painfully nostalgic for that episode on the river • A poignant tale which touches on the themes of yearning and lost youth that are central to many of Fitzgerald’s novels and stories, ‘The Love Boat’ is here presented with other lesser-known pieces which he wrote in the 1920s and explore the many facets of his creative talents • Contains: ‘The Smilers’, ‘Myra Meets His Family’, ‘Two for a Cent’, ‘Dice, Brassknuckles and Guitar’, ‘Diamond Dick and the First Law of Woman’, ‘The Third Casket’, ‘The Unspeakable Egg’, ‘John Jackson’s Arcady’, ‘The Pusher-in-the-Face’, ‘One of My Oldest Friends’, ‘Not in the Guidebook’, ‘Presumption’, ‘The Adolescent Marriage’, ‘Your Way and Mine’ and ‘The Love Boat’

When Tudy’s first husband tragically dies, she takes up the offer of Tom, a family friend, to pay for her to go to study in France. After she and her benefactor become close, she agrees to marry him in Provence later that year. But as the wedding approaches, Tom discovers that his fiancee has become involved with Riccard, a dashing French pilot and his near-double • A tale of broken trust and infidelity based on Zelda Fitzgerald’s own dalliance with a French pilot, ‘Image on the Heart’ is here presented with other lesser-known stories written by Fitzgerald in the late 1920s and early 1930s, which develop many of the themes found in his novels and his more famous works of short fiction • Contains: ‘Zone of Accident’, ‘Fate in Her Hands’, ‘Image on the Heart’, ‘Too Cute for Words’, ‘Inside the House’, ‘Three Acts of Music’, ‘An Author’s Mother’, ‘“Trouble”’, ‘The Guest in Room Nineteen’, ‘In the Holidays’, ‘The End of Hate’, ‘On an Ocean Wave’, ‘The Woman from Twenty-One’ and ‘Discard (Director’s Special)’

Inspired by Fitzgerald’s own courtship of his future wife Zelda, ‘The Last of the Belles’ centres on the Southern beauty Ailie Calhoun from Tarleton, Georgia, who finds herself the object of attention of all the officers at a nearby army base, including the narrator, Andy. A wistful and melancholy exploration of unfulfilled dreams and lost youth, the story is considered one of Fitzgerald’s finest pieces of short fiction • This volume also includes other acclaimed stories – such as ‘Jacob’s Ladder’, ‘The Swimmers’ and ‘The Bridal Party’ – written by Fitzgerald between 1927 and 1931, during the prolonged period in which he was struggling to compose Tender Is the Night

A collection of early short stories which helped make Fitzgerald’s name, Tales of the Jazz Age combines period pieces – the most notable of which is the novella-length ‘May Day’ – with more fanciful creations, such as the fantastical ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’, recently made into a Hollywood film. Also containing the now classic story ‘The Diamond as Big as the Ritz’, as well as lesser-known sketches and tales, this diverse selection, compiled by Fitzgerald himself from material published in newspapers and magazines, showcases both the variety of his writing and early examples of the themes and characters which would find their way into his later novels

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, the author of one of the most poignant and enduringly popular novels of the twentieth century, left only a few other pieces of fiction when he died prematurely at the age of sixty. Childhood Memories and Other Stories, here presented in a new translation by Stephen Parkin and including previously deleted passages and the unpublished fragment ‘Torretta’, collects all of Lampedusa’s extant shorter fiction and provides a revealing glimpse into the writer’s workshop and the background to the composition of his masterpiece • From the atmospheric recollections of the Palazzo Lampedusa and the Palazzo Filangeri Cuto at the turn of the twentieth century in ‘Childhood Memories’ to the delightful fable ‘The Siren’, from the gently humorous, bitter­sweet tones of ‘Joy and the Law’ to ‘The Blind Kittens’ – the first chapter of what was intended to be a sequel to The Leopard – this volume showcases Lampedusa’s unparalleled ob­ser­vational powers and narrative skills

When the young salesman Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning transformed into a monstrous insect, his shock and incomprehension are coupled with the panic of being late for work and having to reveal his appearance to family and colleagues. Although over the following weeks he gradually becomes used to this new existence confined within the bounds of the apartment, and his parents and sister adapt to living with a grotesque bug, Gregor notices that their attitudes towards him are changing and he feels increasingly alienated • One of the masterpieces of twentieth-century world literature, ‘The Metamorphosis’ is accompanied in this volume by a selection of other classic tales and sketches by Kafka – such as ‘The Judgement’, ‘In the Penal Colony’ and ‘A Country Doctor’ – all presented in a lively and meticulous new translation by Christopher Moncrieff

While at a party organized by the lieutenant of his regiment, the shy and awkward Ryabovitch is suddenly kissed by an unknown woman in a dark room. This unexpected and electrifying encounter marks a turning point in his life and a shift in his personality, arousing his passions and setting him on a desperate quest to discover the identity of the mysterious lady. One of Chekhov's most admired stories, The Kiss is joined in this volume by five equally celebrated tales in a brand-new translation by Hugh Aplin: The Lady with the Little Dog, Ward Number Six, The Black Monk, The House with the Mezzanine and The Peasants - making this an indispensable collection for those wanting to discover Chekhov at his creative best

Бенджамин Баттон, с его морщинами, седой бородой и тростью, – действительно загадочный ребёнок. Пока он взрослеет, становясь всё более молодым, его семья пытается понять, почему же он обречён жить свою жизнь наоборот. В этом и других рассказах Фрэнсиса Скотта Фицджеральда заключается немалая доля личных переживаний автора, яркого представителя эпохи джаза • В истории Американской литературы Фицджеральд стал почти мифологической фигурой, а его роман «Великий Гэтсби» многими считается величайшим американским романом. В 1920 году он женился на Зельде Сейр, звезде ранней американской эмансипации. Их нездоровый брак и прогрессирующее безумие жены оказали ключевое влияние на творчество писателя • Издание сборника «The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Six Other Stories» выдающегося американского писателя Фрэнсиса Скотта Фицджеральда, входящее в серию «Penguin Modern Classics» от издательства Penguin, станет отличным подарком поклонникам творчества автора

"Алмаз величиной с отель "Ритц"" - зловещая легенда о погоне за огромным богатством. Читатели перенесутся в сказочную страну фантазий, настолько богатую, что само существование этой области должно оставаться ревностно охраняемым секретом • Фатальные последствия ожидают как "добросовестных" гостей, так и незваных гостей, в то время как сибаритская роскошь этого места воссоздана в непринужденном стиле прозы, который является квинтэссенцией Ф. Скотта Фицджеральда • Также в этом томе представлены "Хрустальная чаша", "Первое мая", "Богатый мальчик", "Сумасшедшее воскресенье", "Трудный пациент", "Осадок счастья", "Потерянное десятилетие" и "Вавилон: Возвращение" • Книга на английском языке • The Diamond as Big as the Ritz is an ominous fable about the pursuit of great wealth

A Hollywood hack who has fallen on hard times since the end of the Silent Era, Pat Hobby spends his time hanging out in the studio lot attempting to devise schemes – such as pressing his secretary for blackmail material against a studio executive – to get more work and earn on-screen credits. Oblivious to his own shortcomings and filled with feelings of self-importance, he embarks on a course towards ever-increasing humiliation, suffering setbacks on both the professional and romantic fronts • A vivid account of Hollywood and its politics and hierarchies, these stories – which draw from Fitzgerald’s own travails as a screenwriter – were first printed in Esquire, although they were written with a view to being published as a cohesive volume

Ван Чиль встречает очень странного юношу, загорающего возле пруда. Эта встреча заставляет его задуматься, не связан ли диковатого вида паренек с недавними исчезновениями кур, зайцев, ягнят и даже младенца. К своему удивлению, на следующий день он узнает, что мальчика приютила его тетя. Она накупила ему одежды и дала имя Габриэль-Эрнест. Ван Чиль узнает, что новый обитатель их дома связан с чем-то сверхъестественным, и все больше подозревает, что он и есть похититель… • «Габриэль-Эрнест» – это жуткая и пугающая история о темной стороне взросления, написанная с характерным для Саки остроумием и оригинальностью. Сборник также содержит рассказы «Открытое окно», «Боров», «Ожерелье», «Чулан», «Метод Шварца-Меттерклюма», «Средни Ваштар», «Рассказчик» и «Волчица», а также иллюстрации Квентина Блейка