In his debut novel, Golding makes sense of the current AIDS crisis as he envisions another time and place transformed by a fatal horror. Take a journey back six centuries to a secluded island in the Venice lagoon--a wondrous place where superstition reigns and life and death are created by magical equations.
A richly crafted novel, here is a tale that is at once the adventure-filled story of an unusual father and son and a front-row view of the momentous events that shaped the 20th century.
A Poet of the Invisible World is the story of a boy born in thirteenth-century Persia with four ears instead of two. Orphaned as an infant, he's taken into a Sufi order, where he meets an assortment of dervishes and is placed upon a path towards spiritual awakening. He studies the Koran and the principles of Sufism. He meets his first love, a handsome youth named Vishpar. When marauders attack the lodge, however, he's swept off to a series of gruelling adventures and an assortment of shifting roles: tea boy in the court of a Spanish sultan, shepherd on a barren farm in the mountains, sybarite in a bustling city on the north coast of Africa. As he stumbles from one painful experience to the next, he grows into manhood. And when fate leads him to a Sufi order perched high in the mountains, he's ready to begin the true work of spiritual development. Now the tests are more subtle: the animosity of a fellow Sufi who has dogged him since childhood, a love affair with an acolyte who's been brought under his wing. But each trial shatters another obstacle within-and leads him on toward transcendence.
Making Out in Thai is a fun, accessible and thorough Thai phrase book and guide to the Thai language as it's really spoken. Dichan long nai tua khun! Ca phop kan iik muearai?—(I'm crazy about you! When can I see you again?) Answer this correctly in Thai and you may be going on a hot date. Incorrectly, and you could be hurting someone's feelings or getting a slap! Thai classes and textbooks tend to spend a lot of time rehearsing for the same fictitious scenarios but chances are while in Thailand you will spend a lot more time trying to make new friends or start new romances—something you may not be prepared for. If you are a student, businessman or tourist traveling to Thailand and would like to have an authentic and meaningful experience, the key is being able to speak like a local. This friendly and easy-to-use Thai phrasebook makes this possible. Making Out in Thai has been revised and redesigned to act as a guide to modern colloquial Thai for use in everyday informal interactions—giving access to the sort of catchy Thai expressions that aren't covered in traditional language materials. As well as the Romanized forms, each expression is given in authentic Thai script (akson thai), so that in the case of difficulties the book can be shown to the person the user is trying to communicate with. This Thai phrasebook includes: A guide to pronouncing Thai words correctly. Explanations of basic Thai grammar, such as, word order and polite vs. impolite forms. A guide to male and female usage. Romanized forms of words and phrases with tonal markings. Complete translations including Thai script (akson thai). Useful and interesting notes on Thai language and culture. Lots of colorful, fun and useful expressions not covered in other phrasebooks. Titles in this unique series of bestselling phrase books include: Making Out in Chinese, Making Out in Indonesian, Making Out in Thai, Making Out in Korean, Making Out in Hindi, Making Out in Japanese, Making Out in Vietnamese, Making Out in Burmese, Making Out in Tagalog, Making Out in Hindi, Making Out in Arabic, Making Out in English, More Making Out in Korean, and More Making Out in Japanese.