Modern Literature

//Modern Literature
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  • Ira Penaluna, First World War pilot, sees his airline go bankrupt in Africa and grabs at the chance to instruct pilots in China. But Ira hasn’t reckoned on the beat-up, burnt-out wrecks he is expected to teach his students in, or on the fact that his pupils speak no English. Though aided and abetted by an enthusiastic assistant, an irresponsible Fagan and his brooding American girlfriend Ellie, Ira finds himself playing a deadly game, becoming embroiled in China’s civil war. The four are forced to flee but the only way out is in a struggling pile of junk flown precariously towards safety. Will they make it?
  • Timothy Bright doesn't exactly live up to his name.  Brought up to believe that copious flows of money are his birthright, he can't understand why the funds have been cut off nor why friends he recruited as Lloyd's names no longer want to talk to him. When gambling fails, Timothy turns to embezzlement, but it's the lesser offence of helping himself to some strangely aromatic tobacco that propels him right up the motorway and into bed with the Chief Constable's wife, in the far northern county of Twixt and Tween. The Chief has just survived charges of bribery and perjury and is not to concerned that his efforts to dispose of Timothy involve false imprisonment, breaking and entering and a spot of GBH.  It's when the Chief tries to frame his old adversary, the upright Miss Midden, that things begin to spectacularly wrong!
  • Bill Dunnigan, the greatest press agent in America, brings the body of Olga Treskovna home to Coal Town, a small mining town, for burial. Olga would have been a great American actress - except that her selfless dedication played a part in killing her untimely as she finished making her first film. The story flashes back to Bill and Olga's love story - but with Olga’s death, Bill - desperate to call attention to the film, engages in a publicity stunt that has very unforeseen consequences. Russell Janney was a theatrical producer and the co-author/producer of the operetta The Vagabond King.
  • Tydvil Jones is a victim of feminine autocracy; he's no longer young and he awoke to the fact that he'd never had a day's fun in his entire life.  Fiercely determined to make up for lost time, he finds an ally in a very Powerful Personage. In three months, he manages more riotous adventure than most men manage in a lifetime and squares his account with his nagging spouse.  He complicates the lives of his friends, confounds his enemies and becomes the most wanted by the entire police force.  Jones breaks the shackles of convention and emerges triumphant, shameless and unregenerate - but very very happy! In the style of Thorne Smith.
  • Ginger Mick was a likeable rogue - the original Aussie mug lair and larrikin - who, before he answered the call to arms to defend democracy, sold fresh rabbits in the streets of Melbourne. This book tells of his tender love for Rose and his experiences at war in North Africa. The verse is full of humour and pathos and truly captures the spirit of the era.Illustrated by Hal Guy.                                               Now, when a bloke 'e cracks a bloke fer insults to a skirt, An' wrecks a joint to square a lady's name,                                                                           They used to call it chivalry, but now they calls it dirt, An' the end of it is cops an' quod an' shame.

     

  • A mosaic portrait of a fascinating man going through the motions of an ordinary life. George Baker had fled the England of his birth to begin a new life in Australia, but he could not abandon his memories and emotions. Years after his death, many of his character traits reappear in his grandson, who must learn to live with a legacy that is both rewarding and disturbing.
  • Mudflat is a typical small Australian township of a few hundred people. David Parsloe, one of its former sons who migrated to America and prospered hugely, bequeaths to the little township of his birth £1 million  - for cultural purposes. The next thing that happens is a impecunious, retired Brigadier, a high-pressure, fast thinking advertising man, and everyone else in the town, tries to secure their pound of flesh. The main contenders is the band of living, breathing evidence of David Parsloe's Charles II-like propensities, who have formed themselves into a union - the name of which clearly explains their birth status. Mudflat's other claim to fame is the late Inigo Burse, author - another son of Mudflat who has just 'arrived' in the literary world. It seems that that Inigo and Parsloe were schoolfellows - and bedfellows - in the same marital bed at different times...which makes for some very interesting relationship entanglements! Earthy Australian comedy.
  • The tangled destinies of an unusual family are played out against the backdrop of the English countryside where two pretty sisters and a beautiful widow take center stage in a drama of dangerous flirtation and backstairs gossip. Esther Musgrave, an attractive widow, has her hands full trying to keep her energetic family together - and on speaking terms! Her three daughters, prickly Delia, sensible Meg and carefree Rose, mean everything to her, especially since the death of her husband, Charles. The story of the Musgraves in their Cotswold home, their loves and hates, hopes and disappointments, is vividly recounted in this charming chronicle of family life.