The comic story of a man’s obsessive quest to build a fast food empire across America For the better part of the 1970s, entrepreneur Ben Flesh could expand his business kingdom with the snap of his fingers. His fast food restaurants and electronics stores were all a part of his rapidly growing domain, remaking America one enterprise at a time. But when a series of personal and professional catastrophes strike unexpectedly, Ben finds himself on the verge of losing it all. Hailed as one of Stanley Elkin’s greatest works, The Franchiser is a biting satire of American consumerism and the story of one man’s all-consuming determination to create his lasting legacy, one business at a time. This ebook features rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s estate and from the Stanley Elkin archives at Washington University in St. Louis.
Three novellas filled with humor and insight by one of America’s modern literary masters In Searches & Seizures, Elkin tells the story of the criminal, the lovelorn, and the grieving, each searching desperately for fulfillment—while on the verge of receiving much more than they bargained for. Infused with Elkin’s signature wit and richly drawn characters, “The Bailbondsman,” “The Making of Ashenden,” and “The Condominium” are the creations of a literary virtuoso at the pinnacle of his craft. This ebook features rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s estate and from the Stanley Elkin archives at Washington University in St. Louis.
DIV DIVDIV“Among Mr. Elkin’s best works of fiction . . . A comedy that cuts so many ways that it leaves us bleeding with laughter.” —The New York Times/divDIV /div/divDIVEddy Bale’s twelve-year-old son died after a terrible, drawn-out illness. Now, determined to help alleviate the suffering of other sick children, Eddy plans to take a group of seven terminally ill youths on a dream vacation to Disney World. Accompanied by four eccentric chaperones, Eddy and the kids embark on what is meant to be a magical retreat that quickly devolves into a series of disasters when the kids turn out to be more full of life than anyone expected./divDIV /divDIVWritten with deadpan humor and poignancy, The Magic Kingdom is a striking and honest portrayal of life and death—and the trouble that ensues when one attempts to master either./divDIV /divDIVThis ebook features rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s estate and from the Stanley Elkin archives at Washington University in St. Louis./div /div
When Thomas Jefferson took the oath of office for the presidency in 1801, America had just passed through twelve critical years, years dominated by some of the towering figures of our history and by the challenge of having to do everything for the first time. Washington, Hamilton, Madison, Adams, and Jefferson himself each had a share in shaping that remarkable era--an era that is brilliantly captured in The Age of Federalism. Written by esteemed historians Stanley Elkins and Eric McKitrick, The Age of Federalism gives us a reflective, deeply informed analytical survey of this extraordinary period. Ranging over the widest variety of concerns--political, cultural, economic, diplomatic, and military--the authors provide a sweeping historical account, keeping always in view not only the problems the new nation faced but also the particular individuals who tried to solve them. As they move through the Federalist era, they draw subtly perceptive character sketches not only of the great figures--Washington and Jefferson, Talleyrand and Napoleon Bonaparte--but also of lesser ones, such as George Hammond, Britain's frustrated minister to the United States, James McHenry, Adams's hapless Secretary of War, the pre-Chief Justice version of John Marshall, and others. They weave these lively profiles into an analysis of the central controversies of the day, turning such intricate issues as the public debt into fascinating depictions of opposing political strategies and contending economic philosophies. Each dispute bears in some way on the broader story of the emerging nation. The authors show, for instance, the consequences the fight over Hamilton's financial system had for the locating of the nation's permanent capital, and how it widened an ideological gulf between Hamilton and the Virginians, Madison and Jefferson, that became unbridgeable. The statesmen of the founding generation, the authors believe, did "a surprising number of things right." But Elkins and McKitrick also describe some things that went resoundingly wrong: the hopelessly underfinanced effort to construct a capital city on the Potomac (New York, they argue, would have been a far more logical choice than Washington), and prosecutions under the Alien and Sedition Acts which turned into a comic nightmare. No detail is left out, or left uninteresting, as their account continues through the Adams presidency, the XYZ affair, the naval Quasi-War with France, and the desperate Federalist maneuvers in 1800, first to prevent the reelection of Adams and then to nullify the election of Jefferson. The Age of Federalism is the fruit of many years of discussion and thought, in which deep scholarship is matched only by the lucid distinction of its prose. With it, Stanley Elkins and Eric McKitrick have produced the definitive study, long awaited by historians, of the early national era.
After his young son dies despite eleven operations and a variety of medical treatments, Eddy Bale establishes a fund to send dying children on trips to Disneyland
This third edition of Stanley M. Elkin's classic study offers two new chapters by the author. The first, "Slavery and Ideology," considers the discussion and criticism occasioned by this controversial work. Elkins amplifies his original purpose in writing the book and takes into consideration the substantial body of critical commentary. He also attempts a prediction on the course of future research and discussion.
Dopo Barth, Purdy, Yates, minimum fax continua nella sua riscoperta dei "classici contemporanei". Abbandonato dalla moglie e devastato dalla morte del figlio dodicenne, l’inglese Eddy Bale organizza un viaggio a Disneyland come ultima, strepitosa vacanza per sette bambini affetti da rarissime malattie terminali. Accompagnato da quattro adulti bizzarri e disfunzionali, l’improbabile gruppo di piccoli turisti si troverà di fronte la città del divertimento più stupefacente e grottesca del pianeta... Elkin, una delle voci più geniali del postmoderno americano, trasforma una potenziale vicenda strappalacrime in una tragicommedia scatenata, una satira esilarante e profonda, popolata da regine d’Inghilterra che barano a Scarabeo e pupazzi disneyani dall’aria bellicosa. Pubblicato nel 1985, questo straordinario romanzo arriva ora per la prima volta in Italia, con una prefazione inedita di Rick Moody (autore di The James Dean Garage Band, La più lucente corona d'angeli in cielo, Rosso americano, Il velo nero).
Two esteemed American historians provide a reflective analytical survey of one of the most crucial periods in American history. They describe the events immediately following the American War of Independence when statesmen formed the new nation.
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