House of Sand and Fog

• ISBN13: 9780393338119
• Condition: New
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The National Book Award finalist, Oprah Book Club pick, #1 New York Times bestseller and basis for the Oscar-nominated motion picture.

A former colonel in the Iranian Air Force yearns to restore his family's dignity. A recovering alcoholic and addict down on her luck struggles to hold on to the one thing she has left. And her lover, a married cop, is driven to extremes to win her love.

In this masterpiece of American realism and Shakespearean consequence, Andre Dubus III's unforgettable charactersâ€"people with ordinary flaws, looking for a small piece of ground to stand onâ€"careen toward inevitable conflict, their tragedy painting a shockingly true pi! cture of the country we live in today.Oprah Book Club® Selection, November 2000: Andre Dubus III wastes no time in capturing the dark side of the immigrant experience in America at the end of the 20th century. House of Sand and Fog opens with a highway crew composed of several nationalities picking up litter on a hot California summer day. Massoud Amir Behrani, a former colonel in the Iranian military under the Shah, reflects on his job-search efforts since arriving in the U.S. four years before: "I have spent hundreds of dollars copying my credentials; I have worn my French suits and my Italian shoes to hand-deliver my qualifications; I have waited and then called back after the correct waiting time; but there is nothing." The father of two, Behrani has spent most of the money he brought with him from Iran on an apartment and furnishings that are too expensive, desperately trying to keep up appearances in order to enhance his daughter's chance! s of making a good marriage. Now the daughter is married, and ! on impu lse he sinks his remaining funds into a house he buys at auction, thus unwittingly putting himself and his family on a trajectory to disaster. The house, it seems, once belonged to Kathy Nicolo, a self-destructive alcoholic who wants it back. What starts out as a legal tussle soon escalates into a personal confrontation--with dire results.

Dubus tells his tragic tale from the viewpoints of the two main adversaries, Behrani and Kathy. To both of them, the house represents something more than just a place to live. For the colonel, it is a foot in the door of the American dream; for Kathy, a reminder of a kinder, gentler past. In prose that is simple yet evocative, House of Sand and Fog builds to its inevitable denouement, one that is painfully dark but unfailingly honest. --Alix Wilber

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This book is now a major motion picture released with the same title in August 2011. In 1987, Latif Yahia was taken to Saddam's headquarters to meet Uday, Saddam's eldest son, and told that a great honour had been bestowed upon him: that because of the great likeness between them, he had been chosen to be Uday's double. For many Iraqis it would have been the highlight of their lives, but for Latif, a peace-loving man who did not agree with Saddam's brutal regime, it was not. He refused. Following a week of torture, and realising he would be killed if he continued to refuse, Latif was forced to accept the role. After a gruesome training programme during which he was made to watch over thirty films of torture, hours of tapes of Uday, and undertake a final remodelling of his appearance, Latif was deemed ready. But it was only after the final test, a ! meeting with Saddam himself, that Latif made his first public appearance. And so began his life as Uday's double - a life on the perimeter of the inner circle of Saddam's eldest son, a witness to the horror of his insane life of debauchery, excess and brutality, and an experience for which he almost paid with his life on more than one occasion.Based on a gripping, unbelievable true story of money, power and opulent decadence, Lionsgate’s THE DEVIL’S DOUBLE takes a white- knuckle ride deep into the lawless playground of excess and violence known as Baghdad, 1987. Summoned from the frontline to Saddam Hussein's palace, Iraqi army lieutenant Latif Yahia (Dominic Cooper) is thrust into the highest echelons of the "royal family" when he’s ordered to become the ‘fiday’ â€" or body double â€" to Saddam's son, the notorious "Black Prince" Uday Hussein (also Dominic Cooper), a reckless, sadistic party-boy with a rabid hunger for sex and brutality. With his and his familyâ€! ™s lives at stake, Latif must surrender his former self foreve! r as he learns to walk, talk and act like Uday. But nothing could have prepared him for the horror of the Black Prince’s psychotic, drug-addled life of fast cars, easy women and impulsive violence. With one wrong move costing him his life, Latif forges an intimate bond with Sarrab (Ludivine Sagnier), Uday's seductive mistress who’s haunted by her own secrets. But as war looms with Kuwait and Uday’s depraved gangster regime threatens to destroy them all, Latif realizes that escape from the devil’s den will only come at the highest possible cost.After scene-stealing turns in The History Boys and An Education, charismatic Brit Dominic Cooper becomes a leading man--twice. Like Nicolas Cage in Adaptation, he plays two men with similar features and opposing personalities. In 1987, as Iraq is locked in a power struggle with Kuwait, Uday Hussein decides he needs a fiday, or body double, so he selects former classmate Latif Yahia, and doesn't give the army! lieutenant a choice. Upright Latif must put his scruples aside to take on the part of an insecure, misogynistic sadist. Though dazzled by the Black Prince's wealth, he finds his behavior horrifying, and discovers he isn't alone. Uday's security officer, Munem (Raad Rawi), his mistress, Sarrab (Swimming Pool's Ludivine Sagnier), and even his father, Saddam (Philip Quast, surprisingly sympathetic), all think he's off his rocker. When Uday's encounters with a couple of women come to a grim end, Latif runs away with Sarrab, who's just as anxious to make a new life for herself. New Zealand director Lee Tamahori, who came to fame with Once Were Warriors, consistently goes for the big, the bold, and the operatic, leading to an entertaining, if lurid Scarface-like spectacle. The more his camera ogles Uday's snazzy suits and sexy conquests, the more he seems equally bedazzled by this real-life Devil. Fortunately, Cooper rises to the occasion with two impressive! ly divergent performances; he keeps you rapt no matter how rid! iculous the proceedings get. --Kathleen C. FennessyRed Devil 3040 Scraper, Double EdgeUse to remove paint or varnish from furniture, molding, cornices, wooden sashes, etc. Heavy-duty plastic handle.Red Devil 3040 Scraper, Double Edge Features:; 1 1/2" (3.8 cm) Blade; Carded; Made from hardwood for long lasting life; Hardened high-carbon steel blades; Replacement blade 3062 (3673-5355); 7" x 1-1/2"

HO Accident Waiting to Happen

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Oscar nominee* Geena Davis stars as Gloria Conway, the sharp-tongued mom in this darkly comic story of a family strangely cursed with a streak of bad luck. But as life takes unexpected detours, Gloria manages to tear apart her pain to find the humor in even the toughest things that happen to her. When her teenage son Billy uncharacteristically lets off some steam in a series of scandalous pranks, the tragic results are something no one could have predicted. But with the love of his family and some unexpected help, Billy sees the magic behind lifes oddest accidents. *Best Supporting Actress: The Accidental Tourist, 1988 Oscar nominee* Geena Davis stars as Gloria Conway, the sharp-tongued mom in this darkly comic story of a f! amily strangely cursed with a streak of bad luck. But as life takes unexpected detours, Gloria manages to tear apart her pain to find the humor in even the toughest things that happen to her. When her teenage son Billy uncharacteristically lets off some steam in a series of scandalous pranks, the tragic results are something no one could have predicted. But with the love of his family and some unexpected help, Billy sees the magic behind lifes oddest accidents. *Best Supporting Actress: The Accidental Tourist, 1988 Josh Michaels is worth more dead than alive. He just doesn't know it yet. He has no idea why someone would try to kill him, clearly that's exactly what happened. When an SUV forced Josh's car off the road and into a river, it might have been an accident. But when Josh looked up at the road, expecting to see the SUV's driver rushing to help him, all he saw was the driver watching him calmly...then giving him a "thumbs down" sign. That was merely the first attempt! on Josh's life, all of them designed to look like accidents, ! and all of them very nearly fatal. With his time--and maybe his luck--running out and no one willing to believe him, Josh had better figure out who wants him dead and why...before it's too late.Josh Michaels is worth more dead than alive. He just doesn't know it yet. He has no idea why someone would try to kill him, clearly that's exactly what happened. When an SUV forced Josh's car off the road and into a river, it might have been an accident. But when Josh looked up at the road, expecting to see the SUV's driver rushing to help him, all he saw was the driver watching him calmly...then giving him a "thumbs down" sign. That was merely the first attempt on Josh's life, all of them designed to look like accidents, and all of them very nearly fatal. With his time--and maybe his luck--running out and no one willing to believe him, Josh had better figure out who wants him dead and why...before it's too late.

Praise for Accidents Waiting to Happen :

“One of the mos! t riveting first chapters I have read in some time. The pacing is spectacular and gets progressively faster as the reader nears the finale. An unqualified recommendation.”
â€" Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine

“An impressive debut.”
â€" Mystery Scene Magazine

“Simon Wood...delivers a suspenseful, brisk tale in his debut.”
â€" South Florida Sun Sentinel

“What a thrill ride!”
â€" Literary Editor for the East Bay Express

“A smashing, rip roaring success.”
â€" Over My Dead Body Magazine

“Events escalate in ACCIDENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN at break- neck speed. The thought that the plot could be a reality in today's world is shocking, to say the least. The suspense builds in each chapter, the plot thickens, and I could not put it down. Debut author Simon Wood is a welcome addition to the thriller/suspense genre.”
â€" Fresh Fiction

“ACCIDENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN ! is a thriller at its best.”
â€" I Love A Mystery

â €œACCIDENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN is a briskly plotted thriller that uses point of view shifts better than any novel I’ve read in quite a while in his debut.”
â€" CrimeSpree Magazine

“Simon Wood has fashioned an exciting and well-written novel of suspense, with a nail-biting conclusion during which this reader held her breath in anticipation of what new horrors might be in store!”
â€" Mystery Morgue

“Accidents Waiting To Happen is loaded with suspense and I didn't want to put it down.”
â€" Mysteries Galore

“Accidents Waiting To Happen is as streamlined as a bullet from a hit man's gun.”
â€" Horrorworld

“Simon Wood opens with a breath-taking scene and never lets up...a must read.”
â€" Mysterical-E

“Twists and turns that keeps the reader guessing till the last page.”
â€" All About Murder Reviews

“Enthusiastically recommended.”
â€" The Midwest Book ! Review

Josh Michaels is worth more dead than alive. He just doesn't know it yet. He has no idea why someone would try to kill him, clearly that's exactly what happened. When an SUV forced Josh's car off the road and into a river, it might have been an accident. But when Josh looked up at the road, expecting to see the SUV's driver rushing to help him, all he saw was the driver watching him calmly...then giving him a "thumbs down" sign. That was merely the first attempt on Josh's life, all of them designed to look like accidents, and all of them very nearly fatal. With his time--and maybe his luck--running out and no one willing to believe him, Josh had better figure out who wants him dead and why...before it's too late.

Praise for Accidents Waiting to Happen :

“One of the most riveting first chapters I have read in some time. The pacing is spectacular and gets progressively faster as the reader nears the finale. An unqualified recommendation.” â€" Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine

“An impressi! ve debut .”
â€" Mystery Scene Magazine

“Simon Wood...delivers a suspenseful, brisk tale in his debut.”
â€" South Florida Sun Sentinel

“What a thrill ride!”
â€" Literary Editor for the East Bay Express

“A smashing, rip roaring success.”
â€" Over My Dead Body Magazine

“Events escalate in ACCIDENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN at break- neck speed. The thought that the plot could be a reality in today's world is shocking, to say the least. The suspense builds in each chapter, the plot thickens, and I could not put it down. Debut author Simon Wood is a welcome addition to the thriller/suspense genre.”
â€" Fresh Fiction

“ACCIDENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN is a thriller at its best.”
â€" I Love A Mystery

“ACCIDENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN is a briskly plotted thriller that uses point of view shifts better than any novel I’ve read in quite a while in his debut.”
â€" CrimeSpree Magazine

“Simon Wood has fashio! ned an exciting and well-written novel of suspense, with a nail-biting conclusion during which this reader held her breath in anticipation of what new horrors might be in store!”
â€" Mystery Morgue

“Accidents Waiting To Happen is loaded with suspense and I didn't want to put it down.”
â€" Mysteries Galore

“Accidents Waiting To Happen is as streamlined as a bullet from a hit man's gun.”
â€" Horrorworld

“Simon Wood opens with a breath-taking scene and never lets up...a must read.”
â€" Mysterical-E

“Twists and turns that keeps the reader guessing till the last page.”
â€" All About Murder Reviews

“Enthusiastically recommended.”
â€" The Midwest Book Review

Automobile safety has progressed slowly and at the expense of millions of lives. Vivid footage shares the story of our dangerous love affair with the automobile, from early "motorized coffins" that disintegrated on impact to the "smart" prot! ection found in today's vehicles. Discover the fascinating evo! lution o f auto design, and learn how science and technology are vastly improving the survivability of auto accidents.That annoying beep or voice reminding you to buckle up might be a bit more welcome after watching Escape! Because Accidents Happen: Car Crash by Nova. Automotive accidents kill more Americans each year than all other accidental causes combined, but scientists and engineers strive to create safer cars and highways to make crashes less likely and more survivable. See incredible footage of a 150-mph crash on the Autobahn from which the driver walked away! (He owes his life to a roll bar, and fortunately no one else was involved.) Designers talk about the history of auto safety improvement and footage of crash tests speaks for itself--those dummies are a lot better off now! If you spend much time in a car, or care about someone else who does, check out Escape! Because Accidents Happen: Car Crash and learn how to make the next ride safer. --Rob Li! ghtner

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