In his first collection of stories, Dobyns examines the lives of men and women challenged by their own uncontrollable, illogical natures: poets with free-floating guilt, spouses with unacceptable sexual compulsions, farmers with midlife crises.
Morally flexible sidekick Victor Plotz takes centre stage in the eighth mystery for everyman detective Charlie Bradshaw in Saratoga Springs. Wealthy stable owner Bernard Logan comes to Charlie and Victor for help, believing his young wife is trying to kill him. Three days later, a horse kicks him to death. With Charlie away, Victor throws himself into solving the case himself, finding all manner of rats coming out of the woodwork who wanted Bernard dead. The question is, who did it?
This new collection from best-selling poet and novelist Stephen Dobyns focuses on the hard, ephemeral truth of mortality, and includes the section "Sixteen Sonnets for Isabel" about the recent death of his wife. In true Dobyns fashion, these poems grip and guide readers into a state of empathy, raising the question of how one lives and endures in the world.
One by one, three young girls vanish in a small town in upstate New York. With the first disappearance, the townspeople begin to mistrust outsiders. When the second girl goes missing, neighbors and childhood friends start to eye each other warily. And with the third disappearance, the sleepy little town awakens to a full-blown nightmare. The Church of Dead Girls is a novel that displays Stephen Dobyns’ remarkable gifts for exploring human nature, probing the ruinous effects of suspicion. As panic mounts and citizens take the law into their own hands, no one is immune, and old rumors, old angers, and old hungers come to the surface to reveal the secret history of a seemingly genteel town and the dark impulses of its inhabitants.
Another bucolic fall in northern New Hampshire, and the semester is under way at Bishop’s Hill Academy. But this year the start of school has been less than tranquil. The new headmaster, Jim Hawthorne, has liberal ideas that the staff find far from welcome; eloquent as he is on the subject of honor, rumor has it he’s taken this job to escape his past. And Hawthorne isn’t the only uneasy newcomer. There’s Jessica Weaver, a stripper at fifteen, and Frank LeBrun, a replacement cook who’s a bit too quick with a dirty joke. All three have secrets to conceal, memories to suppress. Serene on the surface, the ivy-clad, tree-lined campus gives few clues to the school’s history of special privileges, petty corruptions, and hidden allegiances. And as winter closes in, students, teachers, and staff get an education in savagery and murder. With his uncanny awareness of the intricacies of human nature, the acclaimed author of The Church of Dead Girls once again probes the daily life of an ordinary community to reveal the depths of good and evil.
In this new edition of "Best Words, Best Order," Stephen Dobyns further explains the mystery of the poet's work. Through essays on memory and metaphor, pacing, and the intricacies of voice and tone, and thoughtful appreciations of Chekhov, Ritsos, Mandelstam, and Rilke, Dobyns guides readers and writers through poetry's mysterious twilight communiques. For this new second edition, Dobyns has added two new essays, one dealing with the idea of "beauty" in poetry and another dealing with the almost mystical way poets connect seemingly disparate elements in a single work.
The American poet Stephen Dobyns is a spinner of dark, extravagant fables of a world we live or may live in. His poems are peopled with devils and angels, ghostly chickens, distorted mythical figures, God, and the risen dead 'pretending they're still alive'. They present a view of what it means to be human which is at once both funny and bleak, compassionate and remorseless. His is a world haunted by regret, driven by desire and need, illuminated by daring make-believe. In his often frightening and sometimes strangely funny poems, Dobyns creates a remarkable bridge between pure entertainment and deep psychological insight.
Everyman detective Charlie Bradshaw lands deep trouble in his third mystery in Saratoga Springs. Private eye Charlie, ever the outsider, finds himself in hot water when a former jockey due to testify in court on a race-fixing scam is found decapitated, apparently given up to the mob by Charlie himself. Now Charlie must hunt down the killers and clear his name, all while staying alive and keeping his scheming companion Victor Plotz on a leash. But both are easier said than done...
This accessible writer's guide provides a helpful framework for creating poetry and navigates contemporary concerns and practices. Stephen Dobyns, author of the classic book on the beauty of poetry, Best Words, Best Order, moves into new terrain in this remarkable book. Bringing years of experience to bear on issues such as subject matter, the mechanics of poetry, and the revision process, Dobyns explores the complex relationship between writers and their work. From Philip Larkin to Pablo Neruda to William Butler Yeats, every chapter reveals useful lessons in these renowned poets' work. Both enlightening and encouraging, Next Word, Better Word demystifies a subtle art form and shows writers how to overcome obstacles in the creative process.
The latest installment in Stephen Dobyns's Charlie Bradshaw mysteries, Saratoga Payback follows the latest exploits of Saratoga Springs' most unusual and sardonic detective. Ever since the cops revoked his private investigator's license, Charlie Bradshaw has been adjusting to life as a regular senior citizen. But reading, sitting around the house, and making amateur home repairs is a far cry from his past life as Saratoga Springs' most successful everyman detective. So when Charlie discovers the sprawled corpse of Saratoga Springs' biggest nuisance on his sidewalk, the ex-P.I. is torn. Should he risk asking questions of his own, knowing he could easily be prosecuted for doing P.I. work without a license? Or should he avoid the trouble and spend his twilight years in peace? Well, the case was practically delivered to his doorstep... Saratoga Payback, the latest installment in Stephen Dobyns's critically praised Charlie Bradshaw Mysteries, follows Charlie as he toes the line between concerned private citizen and practiced private eye. As he begins to look into the murder of the town pest, Charlie also finds himself entangled in problem that is purely Saratogian--a mission to rescue an old acquaintance's kidnapped horse. Wry, entertaining, and adroitly written, Saratoga Payback is an immensely satisfying addition to Dobyns's popular mystery series.
The sleepy community of Brewster, Rhode Island, is just like any other small American town. It’s a place where most of the population will likely die blocks from where they were born; where gossip spreads like wildfire, and the big entertainment on weekends is the inevitable fight at the local bar. But recently, something out of the ordinary—perhaps even supernatural—has been stirring in Brewster. While packs of coyotes gather on back roads and the news spreads that a baby has been stolen from Memorial Hospital (and replaced in its bassinet by a snake), a series of inexplicably violent acts begins to confound Detective Woody Potter and the local police—and inspire terror in the hearts and minds of the locals. From award-winning author Stephen Dobyns comes a sardonic yet chillingly suspenseful novel: the literary equivalent of a Richard Russo small-town tableau crossed with a Stephen King thriller. The Burn Palace is a darkly funny, twisted portrait of chaos and paranoia, with an impressive host of richly rendered, larger-than-life characters and a thrilling plot that will keep readers guessing until the final pages.
It is a night racked with violence in an unnamed Latin American country. Three men brave the war-ravaged streets to meet at the opulent home of a friend, the famed surgeon Daniel Pacheco, for their semiannual gathering. As a lavish meal is served by the sullen housekeeper, interest centers on the photograph of an intriguingly beautiful young woman. Spellbinding revelations of erotic obsession and betrayal unfold, interrupted by the increasing bloodshed that presses closer to Pacheco’s door. Stephen Dobyns has written a provocative novel of desire, lust, depravity, and danger—a classic thriller that holds you tightly in its grasp until its shattering conclusion.
Everyman detective Charlie Bradshaw lands deep trouble in his sixth mystery in Saratoga Springs. Three puzzles revolving around poems come together in a perplexing case: an octogenarian in a nursing home writes a strange verse about the death of one of the carers; robberies at the Bentley Hotel are accompanied by a rhyme left by the burglar; and a poetry critic is attacked. Into this mess stumble Charlie and his ineffectual companion Victor Plotz. One terrible disguise and some very suspect sleuthing later, and our heroes are in trouble again.
Everyman detective Charlie Bradshaw returns for his second mystery. Having left behind his career as a cop for a job as a security guard at a Saratoga stable, middle-aged, divorced Charlie thinks his life has finally calmed down. Until, that is, his boss is shot while swimming. As Charlie digs deeper into the murder and the murky world of Saratoga Spring's racing scene, fighting the bumbling local police at every turn, he discovers a conspiracy that reaches right to the top.
Everyman detective Charlie Bradshaw finds an old case coming back to haunt him in his seventh mystery in Saratoga Springs. When a convict Charlie sent down some two decades earlier is paroled, death threats start arriving, while the skull of a woman who supposedly fled to South America shows up on a building site, drawing the detective back to his old case. Meanwhile, girlfriend Janey wants to see some commitment from Charlie, and Victor is generally being unhelpful in the way that only the world worst hotel detective can.
The final mystery for everyman detective Charlie Bradshaw turns into a hilarious caper in the hands of his morally flexible sidekick Victor Plotz. Scenting a quick buck, Victor agrees to collect a suspicious suitcase from Montreal, but trusting in bumbling blackbelt Eddie Gillespie quickly transpires to be a terrible mistake. Between a pair of thugs, a stripper, and the worry that his girlfriend is playing away, Victor finds he has more on his hands than he can handle - and has to call on his old friend to clean things up, Saratoga Springs style.
Everyman detective Charlie Bradshaw and sidekick Victor Plotz dice with death in their fifth mystery in Saratoga Springs. Gambling, an art heist and dog fighting collide in Charlie's latest case, which once more lands on his doorstep when his pal Victor's gambling party is robbed at the Bradshaw family hotel. It's Super Bowl Sunday, and one of the five gamblers present at the party has an agenda beyond mere money - but who? And are they willing to kill to get what they want?
Morally flexible sidekick Victor Plotz takes on the ninth mystery for everyman detective Charlie Bradshaw. Now working at the Horse Pavillion at the Saratoga Springs racetrack, Victor finds himself being followed as a badly behaved horse named Fleshpot begins to make waves. Several murders and a breath-taking car chase see Victor himself come under suspicion while Charlie faces up to his own commitment issues - a fate worse than death.
Everyman detective Charlie Bradshaw returns with sidekick Victor Plotz for a fourth mystery in Saratoga Springs. In search of an easy buck, Victor has found a sideline taking photos of tourists, but his new career nearly kills him when he is the subject of a hit and run and his camera in snatched. Meanwhile, Charlie has his own problems when a maid is apparently murdered in the hotel owned by his mother and a waiter suspiciously vanishes. The two cases come together as a spate of robberies suggests something else is going on.
Tip your hat and meet everyman detective, Charlie Bradshaw, hero of Saratoga Springs. It's 1975, and shy, gentle small-town cop Charlie Bradshaw celebrates an unwelcome 41st birthday with a trip to New York to search Sam Cheney, the son of his high school sweetheart and a small-time drug dealer. What begins as an intriguing mystery spirals out of control as rumpled Charlie quickly finds out that Sam is out of his depth - and he's not the only one.
Stephen Dobyns—whom Stephen King has described as "the best of the best"—is back with a comic suspense novel about a small-time con operation, a pair of combative detectives, and the pride, revenge, and deception that guide us all. Richard Russo meets Elmore Leonard. In the seaport town of New London, Connecticut, newcomer Connor Raposo has just witnessed a gruesome motorcycle accident on Bank Street. At least he thinks it was an accident. A man sliced in half by a reversing dump truck could only be an accident, right? But these days, Connor can’t be sure of anything—his entire line of work is based on games of artful deception. His days at Bounty, Inc., are spent soliciting funds for improbable, bogus charities; its last venture was Free Beagles from Nicotine Addiction, Inc. The new scam is Prom Queens Anonymous, Inc., dedicated to helping former high school celebs transition to humdrum daily grown-up lives; Connor’s target is Angelina Rossi—Pumpkin Queen of 1985, proud beagle owner, and ex-wife of a man named Fat Bob. Meanwhile, Manny Streeter and Benny Vikström are the local detectives assigned to the Bank Street motorcycle wreck, and despite their shared interest of proving each other wrong, the two eventually reach the same conclusion: This death by Harley was Murder One, pure and simple. As the detectives begin asking their questions around town, Connor is looking for similar answers that will determine whether he lives or dies. Among them: Who is Fat Bob, and is he actually dead? Sharply written and entertainingly absurd, Is Fat Bob Dead Yet? is packed with Stephen Dobyns’s trademark characters—whimsical, neurotic, puzzling yet familiar, and impossible to pin down. Dobyns again proves why he is an American master of the suspenseful, all-too-human land of the absurd.
Wanneer een vermaard klinisch psycholoog hoofd wordt van een school voor moeilijk opvoedbare jongeren in New Hampshire, probeert men hem daar op alle mogelijke manieren weg te pesten.
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