The Year Of Bad Behavior

Atomic Habits (MR-EXP)

Bad Behavior

Mary Gaitskill's tales of desire and dislocation in 1980s New York caused a sensation with their frank, caustic portrayals of men and women's inner lives. As her characters have sex, try and fail to connect, play power games and inflict myriad cruelties on each other, she skewers urban life with precision and candour. 'Stubbornly original, with a sort of rhythm and fine moments that flatten you out when you don't expect it, these stories are a pleasure to read' Alice Munro 'An air of Pinteresque menace hangs over these people's social exchanges like black funereal bunting ... Gaitskill writes with such authority, such radar-perfect detail' Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

The Way Things Were

The Way Things Were is a collection of stories and novellas by Ukrainian writer Marko Vovchok (Maria Alexandrona Vilinskaya-Markevich) focused around the lives of Russian and Ukrainian serfs during the last decade of slavery in the Russian Empire. These works were instrumental to the abolitionist movement, whose members - writers, poets, artists, and political activists - eventually succeeded in bringing about the Emancipation reform of 1861 and ending six centuries of serfdom. Marko Vovchok's stories are not epic, historically significant episodes, but rather small, everyday vignettes from the lives of serfs and their masters, made all the more powerful by their serene, conversational style bringing the reality of the era into stark relief. This collection includes the following works: The Merchant's Daughter Sasha Mischief Maker The Schoolgirl Katerina Nine Brothers and Their Sister Galya The Tulle Baba Lazy Bones Little Toy The King of Hearts Lemerivna Masha