Dark Humor

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“Their lives—like most—are lived in gray zones, in the margins and crusts, in the very conflict itself.”

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“a fun bit of vampire courtship with a dash of a mystery thrown in for intrigue.”

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This collection of nine stories features florid depictions of low life, vivid details about dysfunctional relationships spent in seedy strip motels, and an unusual number of descriptions of toilets

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“With a set of clever twists, Berkeley finally lays out the issue of how best to see justice served, and the answers are both rueful and entertaining.”

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A Beginner’s Guide to Murder is a humorous romp through unfamiliar territory. Stopps manages her four central characters through distinct portraits.

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Liberation Day is inventive, provocative, difficult, interesting, and annoying.

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“very funny . . . if you’re ready to laugh at pandemic absurdities, this is the book for you.”

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“The book could be read as a warning about where we are headed as a society.”

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“If you’re looking for distinctive international bouquet in your ‘Scandi noir,’ this isn’t going to fit your collection.

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“What a pleasure it is! Page after page features passages that beg to be read again, with wonderfully inventive visuals along the way. . . .

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“Flip through the pages and find and remember the parts that will most challenge, inspire, delight. Find your own gems within Inside Story and treasure them.”

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“Deft with prose, inventive with structure, and gruesome in his delivery, Palahniuk’s latest will no doubt test some readers’ stomachs, while simultaneously guaranteeing him a brand-new bat

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“In Misconduct of the Heart, Cordelia Strube achieves a transcendence in the person of her protagonist that speaks to hope in the worst of times.”

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“Rob Doyle’s writing leaves us with—'the sense, euphoric and terrifying, that everything was possible again.’”

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In the final weeks of World War II, when Walter Kempowski was 15 years old, he watched tens of thousands of his fellow Germans scramble westward through his hometown from their once-conquered terri

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“This balance, between nihilism and delight, is the great power of Fly Already.

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Ma Jian’s China Dream is a dissident novel in all senses of the term. It’s a novel written by a dissident: “every novel [Ma has] written has been banned in the mainland.

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Goulash is a fun read, but to quote Gertrude Stein, out of context, ‘there’s no there there.’”

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“A story that is a sort of a Groundhog Day in the afterlife, Samuel Johnson’s Eternal Return is a worthwhile, thoughtful—and hilarious—read.”

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“Tursten’s writing is witty and sharp, humorous and edgy. The stories read quickly and easily . . .”

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"Hallinan is easily one of the most entertaining crime writers in the business today."

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Cecil Younger works as a criminal defense investigator at the Public Defender Agency in Sitka, Alaska.

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“a disgusting, disturbing, magnificent book.”

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“a rambling, innovative, cerebral, and wildly entertaining ‘trippy’ journey that drives home essential questions while providing none of the answers . . .”

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For nine years Lucy has been working as a part-time librarian at a small Arizona university and struggling to complete a Ph.D. program in classic literature.

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