The Tricky Part tells the story of the relationship and its effect on Moran, who grew up as a homosexual. It describes Moran’s sexual awakening, and how he and a chubby friend of his called George, go with Bob to get the camp ready. Bob pulls Moran into his sleeping bag the first night they are alone (with George asleep beside them) and abuses him. A year later, Moran discovers that a friend of his, Kip, another 13-year-old, is also being abused by Bob. The abuse continues through puberty and adolescence and Moran tries to tell Bob that he wants it all to stop. Bob''s response is to invite the boy into bed with him and his cowgirl-friend Karen. Bob is finally arrested and jailed for his sex crimes. Moran''s desperate coming-of-age is described with candor and humor and sets out the paradox that what is, in nearly everyone’s eyes, a seriously damaging experience, can be the very thing that gives "rise to transformation, even grace". The book condemns adult–child sex. Moran is ambivalent about the touching and other sexual acts. He tries to commit suicide twice, but eventually finds his feet in Off Broadway and Broadway theater. Moran has also developed and performed The Tricky Part as a one-man play. fr:Un truc à part

The Tricky Part: One Boy''s Fall from Trespass into Grace

The book is set as a series of journal entries, where the unnamed narrator goes back and forth between his life with the rats and his work, in a low-level job at a company that his father used to own. In these entries, the young man dwells on the hatred he feels for his boss, the stresses of caring for his aging mother, a nameless girl he becomes fond of and above all the families of rats which he has befriended and which he uses them for company and companionship. Eventually, the young man trains the rats to do things for him. His favorite is a white rodent, which he calls "Socrates". A rival to Socrates is "Ben", a large rat that the narrator grows to despise when it refuses to listen to him. The young man uses the rats to wreak revenge upon his boss, and havoc amongst the local shop owners and home owners, who he has robbed with the aide of his rat pack. His "ratman" robberies become a newspaper sensation in the area, and the man makes quite a stash of money for himself, and for the girl who he is courting at work. After his mother dies, the young man inherits the house. Socrates is killed at the young man''s work place, by his boss Mr. Martin, and the young man is forced to now use Ben in his criminal escapades. He devises a plan to have the rats kill Mr. Martin, avenging Socrates death. He then abandons all the rats at the scene of the crime, ridding himself of that part of his life. Eventually, as his relationship with the office girl moves towards marriage, Ben and his pack return, chasing the girl out of the house, and trapping the young man in the attic. The book ends with the young man madly scribbling about the rats chewing away at the door.

Ratman''s Notebooks

The book suggests that, whereas the majority of the 5-billion people in the "developing world" are getting richer at an unprecedented rate, a group of countries (mostly in Africa and Central Asia but with a smattering elsewhere) are stuck and that development assistance should be focused heavily on them. These countries typically suffer from one or more development traps. The Conflict Trap: Civil wars (with an estimated average cost of $64bn each) and coups incur large economic costs to a country. Additionally, in the time period immediately following a major conflict, relapse is highly likely. Collier also argues that the longer a country stays in a state of conflict, the more players become established that profit from the state of tumult, making the situation increasingly intractable. The Natural Resource Trap: Countries that are rich in natural resources are paradoxically usually worse off than countries that are not. Collier attributes this to a variety of causes: * Resources make conflict for the resources more likely. * Natural resources mean that a government does not have to tax its citizens. Consequently, the citizenry are less likely to demand financial accountability from the government. * The exploitation of valuable natural resources can result in Dutch disease, where a country''s other industries become less competitive as a result of currency valuation due to the revenue raised from the resource. Landlocked with Bad Neighbours: Poor landlocked countries with poor neighbours find it almost impossible to tap into world economic growth. Collier explains that countries with coastline trade with the world, while landlocked countries only trade with their neighbors. Landlocked countries with poor infrastructure connections to their neighbors therefore necessarily have a limited market for their goods. Bad Governance in a Small Country: Terrible governance and policies can destroy an economy with alarming speed. The reason small countries are at a disadvantage is that though they may have a low cost-of-living, and therefore be ideal for labor-intensive work, their smallness discourages potential investors, who are unfamiliar with the local conditions and risks, who instead opt for better known countries like China and India. He suggests a number of relatively inexpensive but institutionally difficult changes: # Aid agencies should increasingly be concentrated in the most difficult environments, accept more risk. Ordinary citizens should not support poorly informed vociferous lobbies whose efforts are counterproductive and severely constrain what the Aid agencies can do. # Appropriate Military Interventions (such as the British in Sierra Leone) should be encouraged, especially to guarantee democratic governments against coups. # International Charters are needed to encourage good governance and provide prototypes. # Trade Policy needs to encourage free trade and give preferential access to Bottom Billion exports. The book does not include a list of bottom billion countries because Collier believes this might lead to a "self-fulfilling prophecy." However, he states that there are 58 such countries mentioned throughout the book. In his book Wars, Guns, and Votes, Collier lists the Bottom Billion, to "focus international effort": Afghanistan, Angola, Azerbaijan, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Kazakhstan, Kenya, North Korea, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao PDR, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Moldova, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The Bottom Billion

It is eighteen years after the end of the Company War, at least as stationers experience time, less for merchanters subject to the effects of time dilation in the course of their travels. Regardless, the threat of the piratical Mazianni is ebbing. The Neiharts and their superfreighter Finity''s End had spent the post-war years assisting the Alliance militia hunt down the renegades. But now the oldest of all existing merchanter families wants to return to trading. When the ship docks at Pell Station, the heart of the Alliance, the family retrieves one of its own. Fletcher Neihart''s mother had been stranded there by the fortunes of war, giving birth to him on the station. Unable to adjust to stationer life, she had committed suicide when he was five years old, leaving him to suffer through a succession of foster homes. The lonely outsider had been befriended by a couple of hisa, the gentle, intelligent natives of Pell''s World. Now a young man of seventeen with dreams of working on the planet and no wish to take up the family business, he is furious when he is handed over against his will to his relatives as part of a deal between Elene Quen, Stationmaster of Pell, and senior Captain James Robert Neihart. Finity''s End had suffered enormous casualties in the war and afterwards; half the crew died in one catastrophic decompression. Due to this and also because it was impractical to raise children in wartime, the youngest generation consists of only three orphaned "junior-juniors": Jeremy (Fletcher''s new roommate), Vince and Linda. Fletcher should have been in the same age group, but due to time dilation, he is four or five years older. Fletcher is a surly anomaly; he is as old as the more numerous "senior-juniors", but has less shipboard knowledge and experience than the junior-juniors. This is finally resolved by putting him in charge of the three youngsters. Despite a botched, unofficial initiation that results in a fistfight between Fletcher and Chad, a senior-junior cousin, the responsibility (and implied trust) as well as his friendship with Jeremy gradually reconcile him to his new life. Even the initially hostile Vince and Linda look to him for leadership and approval. It all comes crashing down when Fletcher''s spirit stick, a valuable gift from the hisa Satin (from Downbelow Station), is stolen. Suspicion and distrust grow on both sides. When Chad provokes another fight, Jeremy finally confesses that he was responsible. To safeguard the artifact from resentful relatives, he had hidden it in his hotel room at their last stop, Mariner, only to have it stolen. The merchanter Champlain is one of the suspects. Meanwhile, Captain Neihart has vastly more important issues to deal with. He is trying to shut down the smugglers and the black market, from which the Mazianni resupply themselves. At every port of call, he forges agreements with merchanters, Union and stationmasters to bring about a transition to peacetime, legitimate trade. When they find Champlain docked at their next stop, Esperance, Jeremy drags Fletcher to various curio stores, hoping to find the spirit stick. He succeeds, but as the senior captains are locked in vital negotiations, Fletcher is instructed to keep his charges in the sleepover to wait. However, the impatient twelve-year-old Jeremy takes it upon himself to go back to the shop and try to shoplift it, leading to his capture. Fletcher attempts to rescue Jeremy but is caught as well. As they are being led away at gunpoint to be quietly disposed of, Fletcher manages to engineer their escape. The resulting investigation pressures the corrupt, reluctant stationmaster into agreeing with Captain Neihart''s proposals. Fletcher wins the approval of his family and he accepts Finity''s End as his new home.

Finity''s End

The Duke of Savoy was betrothed to Princess Leonora of Milan &mdash; but the current Milanese ruler has reneged on the commitment. The indignant Duke decides to court a local gentlewoman named Cleona instead. Foscari, Cleona''s former betrothed, is believed dead; but he suddenly shows up in the Savoyard capital quite alive, and accompanied by a handsome young page called Dulcino, whom Foscari rescued from bandits. Foscari, unaware of the Duke''s interest in Cleona, sends Dulcino to her to announce his arrival; the Duke meets Dulcino there, and is powerfully struck by the page''s resemblance to Leonora. Cleona, for her part, is faithful to Foscari and pleased to learn he''s alive and well. Foscari, however, through an exaggerated sense of loyalty, resolves to resign his interest in Cleona to the Duke and decides to become a Benedictine monk. He informs the surprised Duke of his decision, and sends Dulcino to tell Cleona that the news that Foscari is alive is actually false. Foscari even convinces a hesitant Dulcino to join the Benedictine order along with him. A monk named Valentio arrives to arrange their admission &mdash; but Valentio instantly greets Dulcino as "dear Leonora." Valentio reveals that Leonora had fled the Milanese court when her father died, for she feared being forced to marry her uncle. She disguised herself as a page and came to Savoy, with Valentio as her companion and chaperon, to see if the Duke would honor their previous commitment. Two weddings, of the Duke and Leonora and of Foscari and Cleona, determine the happy ending. As usual in Shirley''s drama, this main plot is supported by secondary material. The Duke has a libertine brother, Lodwick; at the start of the play his wife Astella has left him and is staying with Cleona. Lodwick commands his follower Piero to commit adultery with Astella, so that Lodwick can divorce her. Lodwick''s old tutor, Lord Grimuldo, tries to persuade his former student to repent; failing this, Grimuldo pretends to have been testing Lodwick and to be, in reality, a fellow libertine. Grimuldo offers to introduce Lodwick to a superior mistress, and brings him to a lush garden filled with strange music, where they watch a masque of nymphs and satyrs. The woman Lodwick meets there is enticing but disturbing; she hints that she has unusual powers, and offers him unlimited dominion &mdash; and finally concedes that she is a devil, a succubus. A deeply upset Lodwick flees homeward, only to find Piero with Astella. Piero tells his master that he has fulfilled his command, and expects reward; Lodwick tries to kill him, forcing Piero to admit that Astella has not submitted to him. The chastened and reformed Lodwick decides to renew his vows with Astella, making them a third matrimonial couple at the play''s end. Lodwick also demands punishment for the "libertine" Grimuldo &mdash; but the devil-woman turns out to have been Grimuldo''s wife Belinda; the ruse is exposed. Comic relief is provided by Jacomo, Cleona''s steward; ambitious but foolish, he resembles Malvolio in Shakespeare''s Twelfth Night. The plot device of a courtier trying to get another man to sleep with his wife so he can divorce her is re-used by Shirley in his next play, The Humorous Courtier.

The Grateful Servant

In a faraway kingdom, there lives a widowed King with his twelve children: eleven princes and one princess. One day, he decides to remarry. He marries a wicked queen who was a witch. Out of spite, the queen turns her eleven stepsons into swans (they are allowed to become human by night) and forces them to fly away. The queen then tries to bewitch their 15-year old sister Elisa, but Elisa''s goodness is too strong for this, so she has Elisa banished. The brothers carry Elisa to safety in a foreign land where she is out of harm''s way of her stepmother. There, Elisa is guided by the queen of the fairies to gather nettles in graveyards; she knits these into shirts that will eventually help her brothers regain their human shapes. Elisa endures painfully blistered hands from nettle stings, and she must also take a vow of silence for the duration of her task, for speaking one word will kill her brothers. The king of another faraway land happens to come across the mute Elise and falls in love with her. He grants her a room in the castle where she continues her knitting. Eventually he proposes to crown her as his queen and wife, and she accepts. However, the Archbishop is chagrined because he thinks Elisa is herself a witch, but the king will not believe him. One night Elisa runs out of nettles and is forced to collect more in a nearby church graveyard where the Archbishop is watching. He reports the incident to the king as proof of witchcraft. The statues of the saints shake their heads in protest, but the Archbishop misinterprets this sign as confirmation of Elisa''s guilt. The Archbishop orders to put Elisa on trial for witchcraft. She can speak no word in her defence and is sentenced to death by burning at the stake. The brothers discover Elisa''s plight and try to speak to the king, but fail. Even as the tumbril bears Elise away to execution, she continues knitting, determined to keep it up to the last moment of her life. This enrages the people, who are on the brink of snatching and destroying the shirts when the swans descend and rescue Elise. The people (correctly) interpret this as a sign from Heaven that Elise is innocent, but the executioner still makes ready for the burning. Then Elise throws the shirts over the swans, and the brothers return to their human forms. The youngest brother retains one swan''s wing because Elise did not have time to finish the last sleeve. Elise is now free to speak and tell the truth, but she faints from exhaustion, so her brothers explain. As they do so, the firewood around Elise''s stake miraculously take root and burst into flowers. The king plucks the topmost flower and presents it to Elise and they are married.

The Wild Swans

Esi Sekyi approaches Linga HideAways Travel Agency in order to finalize travel arrangements – a task Esi has taken on in the absence of her company’s regular secretary. She meets Ali Kondey, the charming owner of the travel agency who assures her that his agency will take care of everything. Esi leaves in her beat-up car and Ali praises Allah for the gift of his woman. Sometime later, Esi’s husband Oko forces her to have sex with him, which she regards as the last straw in their already-deteriorating marriage. Esi then goes to work and tries to pull herself together while searching her native tongue – presumably an African dialect – for a word to describe what just has just happened. She concludes that although her native language has no word for it, in English it might be called “marital rape.” Esi’s best friend, Opokuya, is then introduced, her character standing in fierce contrast to Esi’s. Although their marriage is generally happy, Opokuya and her husband, Kubi, frequently argue about who will have the family car for the day. On this particular occasion, Kubi wins and they agree that he will pick Opokuya up at the Hotel Twentieth Century after work. Esi runs into Opokuya in the lobby of that hotel and the two quickly begin a conversation about Esi’s decision to leave her husband. The story recounts Ali’s friendship and eventual marriage to his college friend Fusena. As they had children, motherhood consumed Fusena’s life, forcing her to stop working and temporarily stifling her desire for higher education. Esi and Ali’s relationship develops as they become lovers. As Esi finds herself becoming more dependent on Ali’s affection, she is disappointed when he fails to visit her for two weeks. When Ali finally reappears, he proposes to Esi, offering her a ring to show that she is “occupied territory.” The marriage negotiations begin as Ali travels to the village where Esi’s family lives in order to discuss the marriage. However, his request is denied due to his failure to bring a proper relative to the negotiations. It becomes clear that both Ali’s and Esi’s families are reluctant to agree to such a union, especially when some of the polygamy traditions have already been breached. Both families eventually agree and Ali and Esi are married in a simple ceremony. On New Year’s Eve, Ali visits Esi before going home and while Ali is there, Oko drives up to Esi’s house with their daughter, Ogyaanowa, in tow. The two men fight and Esi bolts, taking Ogyaanowa to Opokuya’s house. Esi recounts the events to Opokuya and Kubi, who drives over to Esi''s to check on her house, only to find that both men have disappeared. Ali and Esi go on a holiday to Ali’s home village, Bamako and they spend their time there like tourists. After they return, Ali becomes more distant, spending more time with his attractive new secretary. Esi spends Christmas alone, taking sleeping pills to reign in her deep sense of abandonment. On New Year’s Day, Ali finally reappears, offering her a new car as a bribe. He then immediately leaves. Esi shows off her new car to Opokuya and offers Opokuya her old car. Ali continues to give Esi bribes as substitutes for his presence. After three years, Esi finally breaks down and tells Ali that their relationship has deteriorated. Opokuya finally picks up her car from Esi''s house and leaves. Later, Kubi shows up, supposedly searching for his wife. He begins to kiss Esi and Esi considers sleeping with him but decides that she could betray Opokuya like that. Esi and Ali never divorce, remaining friends and sometimes lovers.

Changes: a Love Story

Blood and Guts in High School is the story of Janey Smith, a ten-year-old American girl living in Mérida, Mexico, who departs to the U.S.A. to live on her own. She has an incestuous sexual relationship with her father, whom she treats as “boyfriend, brother, sister, money, amusement, and father." They live together in Mexico until another woman begins to interest Janey’s father. Janey realizes he hates her because she limits him and he wants to have his own life. Her father agrees to let her go and puts her into a school in New York City. For a period of time her father sends her money, but later she begins to work at a bakery and is appalled by the customers. She has many sexual partners. She ends up pregnant twice and has two abortions. She seems to be addicted to sex and does not care whom she sleeps with. In New York City she joins a gang, the Scorpions. One day the gang crashes a car while running from the police and Janey is the only one who survives. Afterwards she begins to live in the New York slums. Two thieves break into her apartment, kidnap her, and sell her into prostitution. She becomes the property of a Persian slave trader who keeps her locked up, trying to turn her out as a prostitute. We see Janey’s dreams and visions, and read her journal entries and poems. Shortly before the kidnapper is to release her to become a prostitute for him, she discovers she has cancer. The slave trader lets her go and she illegally goes to Tangiers. There she meets Jean Genet, the talented, iconic French writer, and they develop a relationship. Janey and Genet travel through North Africa and stop in Alexandria. Genet treats Janey badly, but the worse he treats her the more she loves him. He decides to leave her. Janey gets arrested for stealing Genet’s property. Shortly afterwards he joins her in prison. A rebellion breaks out and they are both thrown out of Alexandria. They travel together for some time. Then Genet gives Janey some money and leaves. Soon after they part company, Janey dies.

Blood and Guts in High School

Sir Richard Huntlove is an elderly aristocrat who is jealous of his beautiful and vivacious young wife. His jealousy is more valid than he realizes, for Lady Huntlove is planning an affair with a gentleman named Sir Francis Courtwell. To distance his wife from the temptations of London, Sir Richard moves his household to his country estate &mdash; along with a gaggle of followers and hangers-on, including: Lady Huntlove''s otherwise-unnamed Sister; Sir Francis Courtwell and his nephew, the younger Courtwell being in love with the Sister; Captain Underwit, Sir Richard''s stepson by his first wife; Engine, a "projector" or speculator; Device, a "fantastical gallant;" and Captain Sacksbury, a drunken old soldier. Captain Underwit has just received a commission in the local militia, and Captain Sacksbury is his mentor. Lady Huntlove''s maid Dorothy is also present; she intends to become Mrs. Capt. Underwit. Sir Francis arranges a meeting with Lady Huntlove; he fakes indisposition when Sir Richard goes hunting. Sir Richard returns unexpectedly and catches the two together &mdash; but Lady Huntlove manages to convince her husband that she is sleepwalking. The would-be lovers try for a second assignation: the Lady pretends to be pacing the floor with a toothache, and when her husband is asleep Dorothy slips into bed in her place and Lady Huntlove goes to Sir Francis. But the gentleman, tired of waiting, has fallen asleep. For their third attempt, Sir Francis intends to fake a riding accident while he and Sir Richard are going to London, and so return to the estate without the husband. He falls off his horse in reality, though, and injures himself seriously; and he takes this as a bad omen and turns penitent. The younger Courtwell has better luck in courting Lady Huntlove''s Sister &mdash; though at first she mocks and ridicules him, and he responds in kind. Paradoxically, the Sister is provoked by Courtwell''s subsequent coolness; the two end up married. Dorothy sends a false letter to Sir Richard, indicating that she, Dorothy, is a runaway, and the daughter of a rich knight. Captain Underwit marries her in the belief that she''s a good catch...and later finds out the truth. A supply of more blatant comedy is provided by Engine, who has to feign lunacy to escape the consequences of his previous financial manipulations and swindles. In addition to a wide range of commonalities with Shirley''s plays, The Country Captain shows debts to the drama of Ben Jonson. This is unsurprising, since Newcastle was a patron and friend of Jonson, and on the basis of his plays is often included in the so-called Sons of Ben, the group of self-styled imitators of the master.

The Country Captain

Cal Lavender is perfectly happy living her anonymous life, even if she does have to play mother to her own mother a whole lot more than an eleven year old should have to do. But when Cal''s mother has one of her “unfortunate episodes” in the middle of the public library, she is whisked off by the authorities, and Cal is escorted to a seat in the back of a police car. On “just a short, temporary detour from what I call life,” Cal finds herself in a group home with four other girls, watched over by a strange old woman that everyone refers to as the Knitting Lady. At first Cal can think of nothing but how to get out of this nuthouse. She knows she does not belong there. It turns out that all the girls, and even the Knitting Lady, may have a lot more in common that they could have imagined. Cal is constantly thinking that her mother is coming to get her quite soon, but, as it turns out, it takes quite a while for her mother to come and "free" Cal from the group home. The four other girls at the group home are: Amber- The quiet, and almost bald shy one who does not talk for the whole beginning of the book; Monica- The whiny, annoying one of the bunch; Fern- The one who laughs at almost anything Whitney says; and Whitney- the girl who has had so much done to her, she made a list. For example, # 14.: Got dropped on head by Santa at a group home party. Whitney is probably the most important girl living in the group home with Cal. The five of them go off to find Whitney''s sister, but, in the end, Cal discovers that this "sister" doesn''t exist at all, and the only other ones who know about it are Amber & Whitney herself. Whitney also has a pet pillbug named Ike Eisenhower the 5th, Whose brother Mike the 5th died already. Through the rest of the book, the Knitting Lady (whose name is revealed in the very end) tells them a story about Lillian as a young girl. Then, she finally tells them that Lillian grew up, and had Brenda; Brenda is dropped off at a group home, just like Cal. Eventually, Betty (Cal''s mother) comes and takes Cal back home, And then, Cal never hears from Whitney, Amber, Monica, Fern nor the Knitting Lady again..

What I Call Life

May Bird lives alone with her mother and her cat, Somber Kitty (a hairless Rex) on the edge of a wooded swamp in West Virginia. She loves to draw and make believe, and desperately wants to fit in at school but can not seem to figure out how. Most people aren''t very comfortable in the woods, but the woods of Briery Swamp fit May Bird like a fuzzy mitten. There, she is safe from school and the taunts and teases of kids who don''t understand her. Hidden in the trees, May is a warrior princess, and her cat is her brave guardian. Then May falls into the lake. When she crawls out, May finds herself in a world that is inhabited by things she thought were just in her imagination. She sees many, many ghosts and other amazing creatures. A ghost named Pumpkin, (with a pumpkin head) has pulled her into the Ever After. It is a place few living people have ever seen. Here, towns glow blue beneath zipping stars and the people walk through walls. Here the Book of the Dead holds the answers to everything in the universe. And here, if May is discovered, the horrifyingly evil Bo Cleevil will destroy her. May Bird must get out. This is the beginning of May Bird''s daring journey into the Ever After, a haunting place where true friends—and many terrible foes—await her on every corner. She meets Pumpkin, her house ghost/guardian who lives with the Beekeeper Arista in a giant house shaped like a beehive. She is told that she needs to go see the Lady of North Farm, a place no ghost is willing to go. Along the journey May meets new friends and sees new cites full of unimaginable sights. She faces many adventures with characters that you will discover when you read this book. The second book is May Bird Among the Stars and there is a third called "May Bird Warrior Princess"

May Bird and the Ever After

Santee St. John is a reporter for NewsReal, a shock site for which he records video via a virtual “interface” allowing viewers to actually experience his recordings on the World Wide Web. He is sent to record a massacre of indigenous people being attacked at Chiapas, Mexico without warning by landowners working for capitalist corporations. However, due to a business deal with Mexico’s government, NewsReal decides not to show the story, prompting Santee to take a sabbatical. While on sabbatical, he meets Margaret Mayfield, a rebel Zapatista with whom he is swayed to travel with and, eventually, fall in love with and decide to fight against the capitalist elite. St. John and Mayfield decide to join a group called Intrepid Explorers, working for the corporations, in order to find a strong group of Zapatistas to join. They are met by an individual claiming to be Subcomandante Marcos, the first revolutionary to use cyberspace, who helped Santee and Margaret establish a plan: to give the rebel victims of the capitalists’ massacres interfaces, which will allow the entire world to experience their sufferings via the World Wide Web by actually taking on all sense perceptions of that person through a completely realistic virtual reality simulator. Margaret Mayfield went on her part of the mission with Webster Webfoot, who used to be one of the most highly rated internet stars but became a “webkicker” and now tries to avoid using an interface whenever possible. However, once there, she is told that Santee is dead and that the funeral will be held the very next day; she and Webster travel to Chiapas, where the funeral is to be held, and discover that Santee is not actually dead, but that someone has faked his demise. Margaret abandons Webster, leaving him some cash for travel, and travels with a hotel owner named Zack Hayman who seems to have an inside connection with the conspirators. In Chiapas, Margaret discovers that Santee left her a personalized interface, which cannot be activated until Santee is actually present. At the same time, Webster’s girlfriend on the internet, Starchilde or “Starr” for short, discovers through her work on a space station that there exists oil on Mars, which means that biological extraterrestrial life must have existed on the planet at some point, as well as that Mexican rebels are being shipped to Mars in order to harvest the oil. Back on Earth, Zack, the hotel manager whom Margaret is with, discovered that the rebels are being sent to Mars in part so that the rich landowners can take their land without resistance. Santee and Margaret believed that they were setting up the victims with interfaces so that they would be able to show their sufferings to others outside of Mexico, but in fact the interfaces were going to make them think that they were receiving messages from Santee, while they were actually going to be tricked to going to Mars as slave labor. On the ship near Mars, Starr discovers that the slaves are to be sent to Mars in order to live there for a time and scout out any biological hazards or chemical hazards. Starr meets an intelligent AI, called Alice Irene, who serves as a literal deus ex machine. Starr convinces Alice Irene to join the cause of the rebels by having her examine the entire Internet and come to her own conclusions about the corruption of the current capitalist regime. Starr was given control of the ship, and the Zapatistas took control with the assistance of Alice Irene. The revolutionaries were given the option to stay on Earth or go to Mars, but as a form of utopian paradise rather than as slave labor. Santee St. John and Margaret Mayfield chose to stay on earth, while the remaining main characters chose life on Mars.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

The Tricky Part: One Boy's Fall from Trespass into Grace

By Martin Moran

Ratman's Notebooks

By Stephen G Gilbert

The Bottom Billion

No Author Listed

Finity's End

By C. J. Cherryh

The Grateful Servant

No Author Listed

The Wild Swans

By Hans Christian Andersen

Changes: a Love Story

By Ama Ata Aidoo

Blood and Guts in High School

By Kathy Acker

The Country Captain

By William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle

What I Call Life

No Author Listed

May Bird and the Ever After

No Author Listed

The Fourth World

No Author Listed