検索キーワード： "ライフ" ユーモア・風刺文学・フィクション

Overworked and underappreciated, single mom Amy Byler needs a break. So when the guilt-ridden husband who abandoned her shows up and offers to take care of their kids for the summer, she accepts his offer and escapes rural Pennsylvania for New York City. Usually grounded and mild mannered, Amy finally lets her hair down in the city that never sleeps. She discovers a life filled with culture, sophistication, and - with a little encouragement from her friends - a few blind dates.

FOR THE FIRST TIME UNABRIDGED IN AUDIO READ BY ALAN CUMMING and ANGUS KING WITH ARCHIVAL RECORDINGS FROM ALASDAIR GRAY HIMSELF 'Probably the greatest novel of the century' Observer Lanark, a modern vision of hell set in the disintegrating cities of Unthank and Glasgow, tells the interwoven...

Desperate to escape their high-pressure life in Los Angeles, the Finch family moves to rural Oregon. But it doesn’t take long to learn that “small town” is not code for “stress-free.” As the new owners of Applegate's one and only general store, the Finches find that the simple life’s anything but simple when your little store is the town's only grocery store, gas station, hardware store, fire station, and occasional dentist’s office.

When out-of-shape IT technician Roen wakes up and starts hearing voices in his head, he naturally assumes he’s losing it. He isn’t. As of last night, he has a passenger in his brain - an ancient alien life-form called Tao, whose race crash-landed on Earth before the first fish crawled out of the oceans. Over the millennia his people have trained human heroes to be great leaders, to advance our species at a rate far beyond what it would have achieved on its own. Split into two opposing factions - the peace-loving, but under-represented Prophus, and the savage, powerful Genjix - the aliens have been in a state of civil war for centuries.

In this poignant and funny novel, a man who is defined by his limitations sets out to fight a murder charge—and discovers unexpected truths about himself, his family, and the world at large.

By his own admission, things haven’t gone too easily for Ben Parker of late. However, hopeful of turning his fortunes around at his newest business, the Life’s a Pitch campsite, there was an air of quiet confidence wafting around the campground wherever he stepped. Until, that is, some unexpected news from his ex-wife throws something of a spanner into the works, placing him in a serious financial pickle as a result.

The table in the centre of The Harp eats pork scratchings. It arranges its own beer mats into impossible patterns. And tonight, for the first time in twenty years, it's waking up. The Harp is a decent pub. Decent pint. Pork scratchings that vanish when you're not looking. Arguments about who took the last one. Friendships tested. Decades of quiet, simmering resentment. Brian sits in his usual seat every night. He can't remember what you're drinking – even after ordering the same pint for twenty years. But he remembers exactly who stole whiskey from his cabinet in 1982.

Have you ever met someone so full of themselves that even fireworks seem dull by comparison? In Oscar Wilde’s whimsical tale "The Remarkable Rocket", a pompous and self-important rocket believes himself destined for greatness, oblivious to the world around him. As he prepares for a grand celebration, his vanity and arrogance set off a chain of absurd and hilarious events, revealing the dangers of pride and the folly of self-importance.

Robin “Nobby” Clarke is a lifelong gambler who has frittered away his life on cards and horses. With the next race or turn of the card taking priority over all else, he never found time for a career, a wife, or children. Now, it seems too late, until the chance comes to rewind the clock to when he was just 20 years old.

My mother-in-law, Diane Newby, zombified by accident. She still volunteers at her church bake sales and cooks pot roast for her daughter and son-in-law, Ron Yardley. What ticks her off is when people don't treat her like a normal human being - with glowing red eyes and super strength and speed. And if she doesn't get her own way, look out. She explodes and leaves broken plaster and body parts in her wake. Nothing stops her: not brick walls, the federal government, or middle-aged spread.

When Linda is made redundant, she plans to travel and do all the things she never had a chance to do when she was working. Her plans are scuppered, however, when her mother is rushed into hospital. Moving back home opens up a new life for Linda that she could never have imagined for herself. This is a short story by the author of A Reason to Stay, C. H. Clepitt, and in the short time you spend with these characters, you'll feel like you really know them.

Linda returns in this, second installment of the Life Begins at Forty-Eight series. This time she is faced with making preparations for her mother to come out of hospital and introducing Tim to her family. Together, they also take on flat-packed furniture. Patience is a Virtue is a short story by C H Clepitt, jam packed with humor. It is also moving and heart-warming. By the time the story is finished you will feel you really know the characters, and will want to know what happens next.

In this third and final installment of the Life Begins at Forty-Eight series of short stories, Linda finds herself caring for her mother while trying to plan her own wedding.

Created by Irving Brecher, The Life of Riley starred William Bendix as Brooklyn-born Chester A. Riley, a family man who worked as a wing riveter at the fictional Cunningham Aircraft plant in California. The stories were usually set at home, where Riley would cheerfully disrupt life with his malapropisms and ill-timed intervention into minor problems. His stock answer to every turn of fate became a popular catchphrase: "What a revoltin' development this is!"

Created by Irving Brecher, the popular family sitcom The Life of Riley featured the comic misadventures of Chester A. Riley, an inept blue-collar factory worker and father of two, played by screen actor William Bendix. Riley’s wife, Peg, tried in vain to prevent her hotheaded husband’s interventions, which usually ended in an embarrassing revelation. With a tendency to try and solve nonexistent problems, Riley sought advice from his best friend, Gillis, but this only led to misunderstandings.

Created by Irving Brecher, the popular family sitcom The Life of Riley featured the comic misadventures of Chester A. Riley, an inept blue-collar factory worker and father of two, played by screen actor William Bendix. Riley's wife, Peg, tried in vain to prevent her hot-headed husband's interventions, which usually ended in an embarrassing revelation. With a tendency to try and solve non-existent problems, Riley sought advice from his best friend, Gillis, but this only led to misunderstandings.

Join George Mahood, his long-suffering wife, and their three young children as they pack their bags and embark on an exciting new chapter in Devon. Picking up where Every Day Is a Holiday left off, Life’s a Beach follows George as he continues his hilarious celebration of the quirky and bizarre calendar days, proving that fun and adventure can be found in the most unlikely situations.

Accidents happen. Especially around zombie turkeys. Then you add zombie humans, and problems proliferate. Mix in some ill-planned genetic engineering, and things get crazy. The insanity continues, from the story where zombies are merged with cucumbers to the one where two basement-dwelling nerds gain access to all video content from the past two hundred years - from aliens. Andy Zach pulls out all the stops on his imagination as he serves up this smorgasbord of silliness. Try it. Laughter is good for your soul.

Until quite recently, Ben Parker was considered, by many, one of the finest bakers on the Isle of Man. Indeed, his wife was once the first to concur with that accolade, directly attributing his culinary skills to her expanding waistline, in fact. So it was ironic, Ben couldn’t help but consider, that she ran off with the dietician he’d hired at her behest.

Now celebrating the 42nd anniversary of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, soon to be a Hulu original series! “Wild satire . . . The feckless protagonist, Arthur Dent, is reminiscent of Vonnegut heroes.”—Chicago Tribune The unhappy inhabitants of planet Krikkit are sick of looking...