July and August

From the acclaimed author of The Hills at Home comes this funny, bittersweet, wonderfully peopled family saga of beginnings and endings, couplings and uncouplings, of new friendships and old alliances. Great-aunt Lily�s gracious pile of a house in Towne, Massachusetts, is the gathering place for her far-flung Yankee clan of grandnieces and grandnephews--all in town for the months of July and August--and with their arrival comes a high summer of comedy and drama. Brooks and Rollins, the uncommonly successful software entrepreneur brothers, turn the heads of the locals with their supermodel dates. Lily herself has made an unexpected success of a new business venture. Sally, the youngest of the clan, is having the time of her life with Cam, a charismatic Towne kid; between them they prove that in some corners of the world, children can still go out to play gloriously unsupervised and come home safely. Cousin Julie announces her wedding to a man no one has met, whose delayed arrival gives rise to a mystery. And in the single developing sorrow, the family faces the possibility of a final leave-taking by the once fiery Aunt Ginger, who continues to dish up crucial life wisdom (whether it�s sought or not) while reclining on a lawn chair in the sun. As July and August unfurls, the cousins scheme and new romances and confidences bloom. Even Aunt Lily, who presides over it all with her hard-won equanimity, has secrets to divulge before the season is done. Throughout, Nancy Clark gives us a beautiful exploration of the ways that a family evolves over time--and the ways in which it remains the same--in this rich summer story of love lost and found. In her first novel since 2002, Nebula and Hugo award-winning author Connie Willis returns with a stunning, enormously entertaining novel of time travel, war, and the deeds--great and small--of ordinary people who shape history. In the hands of this acclaimed storyteller, the past and future collide--and the result is at once intriguing, elusive, and frightening.Oxford in 2060 is a chaotic place. Scores of time-traveling historians are being sent into the past, to destinations including the American Civil War and the attack on the World Trade Center. Michael Davies is prepping to go to Pearl Harbor. Merope Ward is coping with a bunch of bratty 1940 evacuees and trying to talk her thesis adviser, Mr. Dunworthy, into letting her go to VE Day. Polly Churchill's next assignment will be as a shopgirl in the middle of London's Blitz. And seventeen-year-old Colin Templer, who has a major crush on Polly, is determined to go to the Crusades so that he can "catch up" to her in age. But now the time-travel lab is suddenly canceling assignments for no apparent reason and switching around everyone's schedules. And when Michael, Merope, and Polly finally get to World War II, things just get worse. For there they face air raids, blackouts, unexploded bombs, dive-bombing Stukas, rationing, shrapnel, V-1s, and two of the most incorrigible children in all of history--to say nothing of a growing feeling that not only their assignments but the war and history itself are spiraling out of control. Because suddenly the once-reliable mechanisms of time travel are showing significant glitches, and our heroes are beginning to question their most firmly held belief: that no historian can possibly change the past.From the people sheltering in the tube stations of London to the retired sailors who set off across the Channel to rescue the stranded British Army from Dunkirk, from shopgirls to ambulance drivers, from spies to hospital nurses to Shakespearean actors, Blackout reveals a side of World War II seldom seen before: a dangerous, desperate world in which there are no civilians and in which everybody--from the Queen down to the lowliest barmaid--is determined to do their bit to help a beleaguered nation survive.From the Hardcover edition. Oxford in 2060 is a chaotic place. Scores of time-traveling historians are being sent into the past, to destinations including the American Civil War and the attack on the World Trade Center. Michael Davies is prepping to go to Pearl Harbor. Merope Ward is coping with a bunch of bratty 1940 evacuees and trying to talk her thesis adviser, Mr. Dunworthy, into letting her go to VE Day. Polly Churchill's next assignment will be as a shopgirl in the middle of London's Blitz. And seventeen-year-old Colin Templer, who has a major crush on Polly, is determined to go to the Crusades so that he can catch up to her in age. But now the time-travel lab is suddenly canceling assignments for no apparent reason and switching around everyone's schedules. And when Michael, Merope, and Polly finally get to World War II, things just get worse. For there they face air raids, blackouts, unexploded bombs, dive-bombing Stukas, rationing, shrapnel, V-1s, and two of the most incorrigible children in all of history--to say nothing of a growing feeling that not only their assignments but the war and history itself are spiraling out of control. Because suddenly the once-reliable mechanisms of time travel are showing significant glitches, and our heroes are beginning to question their most firmly held belief: that no historian can possibly change the past. From the people sheltering in the tube stations of London to the retired sailors who set off across the Channel to rescue the stranded British Army from Dunkirk, from shopgirls to ambulance drivers, from spies to hospital nurses to Shakespearean actors, Blackout reveals a side of World War II seldom seen before: a dangerous, desperate world in which there are no civilians and in which everybody--from the Queen down to the lowliest barmaid--is determined to do their bit to help a beleaguered nation survive As A Teenager In The Years Before World War Ii, Cyril Kornbluth Wrote Under Multiple Pennames. After Military Service He Developed A Voice Distinctive For Its Commanding Intelligence, Passion, And Wit, Displaying It In A String Of Novels And Short Stories. This Comprehensive Biography Tells The Story Of This Remarkable Writer And His Works--provided By Publisher. Cyril Kornbluth, 1923-1958 -- Pt. I. Life And Works -- 1. Futurians -- 2. In The North Of Manhattan -- 3. George Washington Hill -- 4. Irreverent Puck -- 5. Mutant Title And The Fifth Convention -- 6. Pirate And The Garbageman -- 7. Interview With S.d. Gottesman -- 8. Cecil Corwin And The Fiction Avalanche -- 9. Ineluctable Modality -- 10. Ogre And The Literary Cabal -- 11. Before The Bodies Were Buried -- 12. Detective Ace And The Flying Saucer -- 13. Little Black Story -- 14. New Face Of Science Fiction -- 15. Little Mother Of Science Fiction -- 16. Vogting Old Van -- 17. Pack The Venus Ship With Connies -- 18. Launch Of An Angry Novelist -- 19. Miracle-year Of 1953 -- 20. Easy (equals Bad) Way -- 21. Sparrow In The Badminton Game -- 22. Satellite Of Mass Control -- 23. Tioga House -- 24. Hypertensive Year -- 25. Death Of Science Fiction -- 26. Magical Number And The Magic Crutch -- 27. Two Celestial Lane -- 28. End Of The Modern -- 29. In The Age Of The Masses -- Pt. Ii. Split Personality In The Fiction -- 30. Everybody Knows Joe -- 31. Bureau Chief, The Hermaphrodite, And The Marching Morons -- 32. Fugue State And The Lonely Man -- 33. Silly Season And Maggie's Wrong Pressing -- 34. Kornbluth, Klass, And The Moral Stance. Mark Rich. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Oxford in 2060 is a chaotic place, with scores of time-traveling historians being sent into the past. Michael Davies is prepping to go to Pearl Harbor. Merope Ward is coping with a bunch of bratty 1940 evacuees and trying to talk her thesis adviser into letting her go to VE-Day. Polly Churchill’s next assignment will be as a shopgirl in the middle of London’s Blitz. But now the time-travel lab is suddenly canceling assignments and switching around everyone’s schedules. And when Michael, Merope, and Polly finally get to World War II, things just get worse. For there they face air raids, blackouts, and dive-bombing Stukas—to say nothing of a growing feeling that not only their assignments but the war and history itself are spiraling out of control. Because suddenly the once-reliable mechanisms of time travel are showing significant glitches, and our heroes are beginning to question their most firmly held belief: that no historian can possibly change the past. Cyril Kornbluth is a legendary figure in science fiction. As a teenager in the years before World War II, he wrote prolifically and brilliantly under multiple pennames. After military service he developed a voice distinctive for its commanding intelligence, passion, and wit, displaying it in a string of novels and short stories including his award-winning "The Little Black Bag." His sudden death in 1958, at the early age of 35, marked the end of an era--it was a time when his chosen literary field was contemplating its potential demise. This comprehensive biography tells the story of this remarkable writer and his works for the first time. When A Time-travel Lab Suddenly Cancels Assignments For No Apparent Reason And Switches Around Everyone's Schedules, Time-traveling Historians Michael, Merope, And Polly Find Themselves In World War Ii, Facing Air Raids, Blackouts, Unexploded Bombs, Dive-bombing Stukas, Rationing, Shrapnel, V-1s, And Two Of The Most Incorrigible Children In All Of History--to Say Nothing Of A Growing Feeling That Not Only Their Assignments But The War And History Itself Are Spiraling Out Of Control. Connie Willis. "A small colony of Quakers flourishes on the planet Pennterra under the benevolent tutelage of the alien "hrossa" until a second wave of humans threatens to disrupt the delicate balance between settlers and natives"--Library journal