The story is mostly a first-person narrative. It begins with a woman who has no memory of her past waking up and discovering that she is a mother of some description, in a bloated body that is not her own. After some confusing experiences her memory gradually returns and she recalls that she was part of an experiment using a drug to see if it enabled people to have out-of-body experiences. It seems that the drug has worked far better than anyone could have anticipated: she has been cast into the future. She also realizes that she is in a society consisting entirely of women, organized into a strict system of castes. Her initial contacts have never even heard of men. When it becomes clear to doctors who attend her that something strange has happened, they arrange for her to be taken to meet a historian. It seems that the narrator is in a society somewhat more than a century after her own time. The historian relates that not long after the narrator''s own time a Dr Perrigan carried out scientific experiments that unintentionally created a virus that killed all the men in the world, leaving only women. After a very difficult period of famine and breakdown the small number of educated women, found mainly in the medical profession, took control and embarked on an urgent programme of research to enable women to reproduce without males. The women also decided to follow the advice of the Bible: "Go to the ant thou sluggard, consider her ways", and created a caste-based society, in which the narrator has become a member of the Mother caste. Distressed at the prospect of spending her life as a bloated producer of babies, expected to be unable to read, write or reason, the narrator requests that she be administered an identical dose of the same drug in the hope that she might return to her own time. It works, and she then decides to stop Dr Perrigan at all costs. The story has an ambiguous ending, which may suggest that it is the narrator''s own actions that will lead to the catastrophe she hopes to prevent.

Consider Her Ways

Rebecca’s Tale continues twenty years after du Maurier''s conclusion and begins with the same classic line: “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” Most of the characters from the original novel have left the area: Maximilian de Winter died in a car accident before this sequel begins and Colonel Julyan has retired to a quiet life at home. None of the other characters from the original novel make significant appearances, although some have brief cameos. While in the original novel, Rebecca was ultimately described as a cruel and wanton woman, in this sequel she is presented as a tormented girl, haunted by her traumatic childhood and deeply sad despite her outward boldness. Although the connection was unknown to most of Rebecca''s acquaintances in adulthood (including her eventual husband Maximilian de Winter), her mother was the younger sister of Maxim''s mother. Maxim''s father had seduced his young sister-in-law before she was sent away in disgrace to France, potentially making Rebecca Maxim''s half-sister as well as his first cousin. However, Rebecca''s father was generally understood to be "Black Jack" Devlin, an Irish gambler and speculator. During Rebecca''s early childhood in Brittany, she was raised to believe that Devlin had died while sailing to South Africa, where he was in fact alive and investing in diamond mines. She and her mother were supported by money sent from their relations in England. When she was still a young girl, she was raped by a boy in their French village, teaching her to mistrust, loathe, and manipulate men, but also to be self-sufficient, assertive, and strong in her own right. At the end, taking partial inspiration from Rebecca''s more positive ideals, Ellie Julyan rejects the conventionality of her bucolic country life to pursue her own dreams and ambitions, while Terence Gray reconciles with his own identity and opens himself to love.

Rebecca''s Tale

The novel follows the exploits of Detroit process server Jack Ryan, who has a reputation for finding men who don''t want to be found. A string of seemingly unrelated crimes leads Ryan to the search for a missing stockholder known only as "unknown man #89," but his missing man isn''t "unknown" to everyone: a pretty blonde hates his guts, and a very nasty dude named Virgil Royal wants him dead in the worst way. This is very unfortunate for Jack, who is suddenly caught in the crossfire of a lethal triple-cross and becomes as much a target as his nameless prey. Along the way, Ryan butts heads with local police, including six-shooter-carrying Dick Speed. The book is perhaps best remembered for a sequence taken straight from The Godfather, where thug Virgil plants a shotgun in the meeting place of his victim, in this case, the fire escape of Bobby Lear''s hotel room. Also of note is homosexual wannabe gangster Lonnie, whose "superfly" haircut was emulated by several of Elmore Leonard''s other characters.

Unknown man No. 89

Willie Upton returns home to Templeton for the summer from her graduate studies in archaeology with several dark secrets. Her life seemingly in shambles, she moves back in with her mother for the summer. She never knew the identity of her real father and her mother gives her the shocking revelation that her real father is alive and living in Templeton, but it is up to Willie to dig up the deep dark secrets of the small town and thus discover his identity. She excavates data from the local archives and from ancient books and letters. She gradually pieces together her family tree. While all of this is going on, Willie is concerned in the present about a possible pregnancy, about her sick friend she left back in California, about her mother''s relationship with a local preacher, about her old acquaintance Zeke and of course about Glimmey, the kindly but now dead lake monster. In the end she discovers the true identity of her father and that she was closer to him then she ever could have thought.

The Monsters of Templeton

After obtaining the rank of Lt. Col in the NorAm Marines, Jonat DeVrai resigns his commission after growing disenchanted with the realities of warfare for economic gains. Using his military benefits, DeVrai begins a new career and obtains an advanced degree and creates a more accurate model for measuring the effects of "prod-placement." DeVrai''s practice for ethical, high caliber assessments brings him to the attention of the Centre for Societal Research, a generally non-partisian research group. The Centre commissions a study regarding potential abuses of "prod-placement" techniques in political campaigns. While the study is intended to be used by the leaders of some of the top Multis (companies), attempts on DeVrai''s life and the murder of his sister and her husband, force DeVrai to risk his life in an effort to set things right. DeVrai receives help in the form of the self-aware Cy-droid Paula Anthane and the shadowy force behind Central Four. DeVrai has become a pawn on more than one chessboard. Will he have the chance to set things right? Will he be able to avenge the murder of his sister that left his niece and nephew orphans, or will the multiple plots to remove DeVrai from the board finally catch up to him?

Flash

The play tells the story of Vittori, admiral to Cesario, prince of Naples. Both Vittori and Cesario are competitors for the hand of Cassandra; on her account Cesario breaks off his intended marriage with Rosinda, princess of Sicily. In response to this insult, the Sicilians attack Naples. Cesario sends Vittori to command his fleet in defense, hoping his admiral will be killed – but Vittori is, as his name suggests, victorious. The Admiral, however, finds that the city gates are closed to him on his return, and that his prince is conspiring against him. Vittori flees with his father and Cassandra; but the father, Alphonso, is captured by the Neapolitans, while Vittori and Cassandra are shipwrecked and captured by the Sicilian forces. The King of Sicily, preparing to lay siege Naples, offers to spare Cassandra''s life if Vittori joins his forces; and Vittori agrees. Yet he learns that his father will be beheaded if he keeps to his bargain with the King; the choice between the lives of his father and his love is a typical tragicomic dilemma. Cesario, however, is drawn to the Sicilian camp by a letter from Cassandra, and there he too is captured. The Sicilian princess Rosinda counters by surrendering to the Neapolitans, which forces the arrangement of a peace treaty. Vittori and Cassandra marry, as do Cesario and Rosinda. The play''s mandatory comic subplot features Rosinda''s cowardly servant Pazzorello.

The Young Admiral

The story begins with Vitalstatistix receiving a missive from his brother Doublehelix in Lutetia (modern-age Paris) who wants his aid in making a man of his teenage son, Justforkix. Justforkix arrives in a sports car-like chariot, and comes across as a happy-go-lucky urbanite with an air of superiority about him. Conflict soon emerges between the city boy and the country folk. The village holds a dance in honour of his arrival but he is unimpressed by the simple traditional way of dancing, snatches Cacofonix''s lyre and sings and plays in the manner of Elvix Preslix (the Rolling Menhirs in the English version). Some of the younger villagers soon catch on and dance to this new form. Outraged by this usurpation, Cacofonix tries to show off his own skills, but this of course leads to the break-up of the dance and a knock-out blow from Fulliautomatix. Justforkix on the other hand is impressed and suggests that Cacofonix''s talents would be better appreciated in Lutetia. On the whole, though, Justforkix is quickly bored with the village. This changes, however, when a Norman ship arrives. The Normans (actually Vikings from the frozen north) have decided to come to Gaul not for plunder, but for learning: they are fearless to the point of not feeling fear or even understanding the concept. This causes many problems for them, including the contempt of children for parental discipline, the inability to cure hiccups &mdash; which can be cured by giving the person a fright &mdash; and lack of road safety since reckless chariot-drivers show no fear towards the authorities. The main reason for this expedition, however, is that they have heard of people "flying in fear", which they interpret too literally, thinking that this mysterious "fear" will grant them the ability to fly. Unfortunately, the local Gauls fear nothing (except the sky falling on their heads) and they actually welcome the prospect of a fight with the Normans. However, Justforkix is horrified and fearfully decides to return home. Viewing Justforkix as an expert in fear, the Normans kidnap him on his "flight" home so he can teach them the meaning of the concept. Their chief, the fierce Timandahaf, roars at Justforkix to make them feel fear, though paradoxically it is Justforkix who fears them. The youngster''s situation is hopeless until Asterix and Obelix come to the rescue. A fight breaks out in which the Normans show no fear whatsoever in spite of the beating they get from the magic-powered Gauls, in contrast to some Romans who reluctantly get involved due to an over-enthusiastic new recruit. Timandahaf brings an end to the battle and explains to the Gauls the reasons he and his men have come and kidnapped Justforkix. In order to teach the Normans fear, Asterix sends Obelix to fetch Cacofonix while remaining behind as a hostage. But Cacofonix turns out to be missing — encouraged by Justforkix''s comments and annoyed by the villagers'' treatment of him, he has decided to go to Lutetia. Obelix manages to track him down, however, and to persuade him to come back to save his first real fan. Meanwhile, the Norman chief''s patience runs out and he tries to force Justforkix to teach them flying by tossing him off a cliff. Just before this can be carried out, Asterix engages the Norman warriors in battle and, seeing him pressed by the Normans, Justforkix suddenly gains the courage to fight as well &mdash; albeit to no visible effect. Just in time, Obelix and Cacofonix turn up to stop the slugfest, and after some scepticism the Normans learn that Cacofonix does indeed have the ability to teach one the meaning of fear: his loud and ear-splitting singing has them scared out of their wits. After having experienced this new emotion, the Normans find out that it does not give them wings but rather shows them the true meaning of courage, something they had always taken for granted. Justforkix himself has learned the meaning of courage thoroughly, making him the pride of his uncle. The story ends with the traditional banquet, but with Cacofonix as guest of honour and Fulliautomatix tied up with rope, his ears filled with parsley. For once their roles are reversed.

Asterix and the Normans

The novel takes place in 1864-1869, beginning a few months after the death of Saccard''s second wife Renée (see La curée). Saccard is bankrupt and an outcast among the Bourse financiers. Searching for a way to reestablish himself, Saccard is struck by plans developed by his upstairs neighbor, the engineer Georges Hamelin, who dreams of restoring Christianity to the Middle East through great public works: rail lines linking important cities, improved roads and transportation, renovated eastern Mediterranean ports, and fleets of modern ships to move goods around the world. Saccard decides to institute a financial establishment to fund these projects. He is motivated primarily by the potential to make incredible amounts of money and reestablish himself on the Bourse. In addition, Saccard has an intense rivalry with his brother Eugène Rougon, a powerful Cabinet minister who refuses to help him after his bankruptcy and who is promoting a more liberal, less Catholic agenda for the Empire. Furthermore, Saccard, an intense anti-Semite, sees the enterprise as a strike against the Jewish bankers who dominate the Bourse. (In a footnote, Ernest A. Vizetelly, the first British translator of L''argent, draws a distinction between Zola''s depiction of this aspect of Saccard''s character and Zola''s personal pro-Jewish beliefs as manifested in the later Dreyfus affair.) From the beginning, Saccard''s Banque Universelle (Universal Bank) stands on shaky ground. In order to manipulate the price of the stock, Saccard and his confreres on the syndicate he has set up to jumpstart the enterprise buy their own stock and hide the proceeds of this illegal practice in a dummy account fronted by a straw man. While Hamelin travels to Constantinople to lay the groundwork for their enterprise, the Banque Universelle goes from strength to strength. Stock prices soar, going from 500 francs a share to more than 3,000 francs in three years. Furthermore, Saccard buys several newspapers which serve to maintain the illusion of legitimacy, promote the Banque, excite the public, and attack Rougon. The novel follows the fortunes of about 20 characters, cutting across all social strata, showing the effects of stock market speculation on rich and poor. The financial events of the novel are played against Saccard''s personal life. Hamelin lives with his sister Caroline, who, against her better judgment, invests in the Banque Universelle and later becomes Saccard''s mistress. Caroline learns that Saccard fathered a son, Victor, during his first days in Paris. She rescues Victor from his life of abject poverty, placing him in a charitable institution. But Victor is completely unredeemable, given over to greed, laziness, and thievery. After he attacks one of the women at the institution, he disappears into the streets, never to be seen again. Eventually, the Banque Universelle cannot sustain itself. Saccard''s principal rival on the Bourse, the Jewish financier Gundermann, learns about Saccard''s financial trickery and attacks, losing stock upon the market, devaluing its price, and forcing Saccard to buy millions of shares to keep the price up. At the final collapse, the Banque holds one-fourth of its own shares worth 200 million francs. The fall of the Banque is felt across the entire financial world. Indeed, all of France feels the force of its collapse. The effects on the characters of L''argent are disastrous, including complete ruin, suicide, and exile, though some of Saccard''s syndicate members escape and Gundermann experiences a windfall. Saccard and Hamelin are sentenced to five years in prison. Through the intervention of Rougon, who doesn''t want a brother in jail, their sentences are commuted and they are forced to leave France. Saccard goes to Belgium, and the novel ends with Caroline preparing to follow her brother to Rome.

L''Argent

The first novel in the "Alphabet Mysteries" series introduces the character of Kinsey Millhone as she looks into through the facts surrounding the death of prominent divorce lawyer Laurence Fife, whose murder eight years previously was blamed on his wife, Nikki Fife. After being released from prison, Nikki hires Kinsey to find the true murderer. In the course of the investigation, Kinsey becomes involved with Charlie Scorsoni, Laurence''s former business partner, whose charms are sufficient to overcome temporarily Kinsey''s reservations about sleeping with someone she hasn''t yet crossed off her list of suspects. While flipping through the police reports courtesy (somewhat belligerently) of Lieutenant Dolan, Kinsey discovers something which never came up at Nikki''s trial: that Laurence''s death has been linked by police to that of an accountant in Los Angeles, Libby Glass. Both died under the same circumstances - oleander capsules were substituted for allergy pills - and Kinsey soon learns that the two were rumoured to be having an affair. She tracks down Libby''s parents, and meets Libby''s former boyfriend, Lyle, whom she suspects of being involved in Libby''s death. Kinsey interrupts someone meddling with the boxes of Libby''s possessions in the Glasses'' basement, and on searching through what remains, finds nothing of significance except a letter from Laurence, indicating that he was in love with ''Elizabeth'', which seems to confirm that he and Libby were indeed having an affair. Kinsey goes to Las Vegas on the track of Laurence''s ex-secretary, Sharon Napier, who apparently had a mysterious hold over Laurence, but Sharon is shot minutes before Kinsey arrives on the scene to interview her, and Kinsey has to get out fast before she is caught in a compromising situation. It seems that like with the boxes in the basement, someone else is just ahead of her. Back in California, and quizzing Nikki further, Kinsey is mystified that Nikki''s young son, Colin, recognises Laurence''s first wife, Gwen, in a photograph. Kinsey has already discovered from a couple of interviews with her that Gwen is very bitter about her break-up with Laurence, but the only way that Gwen could have come into contact with Colin would have been through Laurence. Kinsey surmises that despite Gwen''s hatred of Laurence, they were having an affair at the time of his death, and when she accuses Gwen of this, Gwen finally confesses - not only to the affair but to murdering Laurence. Shortly afterwards, she too is dead: killed in a hit and run accident. Kinsey has solved the case she was hired to solve, but the knowledge of Gwen''s affair with Laurence leads her to question her previous assumption that he was involved with Libby Glass. She realises the letter in Libby''s belongings was a plant - dating from an affair with Sharon Napier''s mother, Elizabeth, many years before. So who killed Libby? In a plot twist, she discovers that her previous notions about Libby''s death were entirely wrong: In fact, it was Charlie Scorsoni who had been having an affair with Libby, and he killed her when she discovered he was embezzling money from mutual accounts. He''d used the same method as Gwen used to kill Laurence only a few days before as a cover for her murder, so that everyone would assume the same person was guilty of both murders. Charlie realises that Kinsey has worked out the truth, and during a dramatic confrontation, he pursues her across the beach, armed with a knife. Before he can kill her, she shoots him dead instead. The novel ends as it begins, with Kinsey, exonerated as acting in self-defence, reflecting on the experience of having killed someone.

"A" is for Alibi

The essays in File Under Popular tackle the subject of "popular music", what it is, its origins and the political and marketing forces behind it. Chris Cutler charts the history of music and how it was changed by written notation and then recording technology. Three of the essays dwell specifically on individual musicians and groups, namely Sun Ra, The Residents, Phil Ochs and Elvis Presley, but their stories are told within the context of the evolution of music. "Necessity and Choice in Musical Forms" is the first sketch of an analytical theory that shows how memory systems underpin the forms that music can take; part III of this essay is a personnel memoir of Cutler''s that explains how his former band, Henry Cow functioned outside the music industry and their involvement in the establishment of Rock in Opposition. The last two essays deal with the development of progressive rock in the United Kingdom, its significance and the politics behind it. Cutler continued his analysis on "popular music" in 1986 in two articles, "Skill, Part 1: The Negative Case For Some New Music Technology" and "Skill, Part 2: Heavy Metal, Punk and the New Wave", published in the RēR Quarterly sound-magazine, Volume 1 Number 3 (1986) and Volume 2 Number 2 (1987), respectively. These articles were later reworked by Cutler into a single essay entitled "Skill", which was included in the 1996 expanded Japanese edition of File Under Popular.

File Under Popular

The plot describes how political tension between the government of a politically united Earth (which maintains sovereignty over the Moon) and independent settlers and traders elsewhere in the solar system who have formed a federation, erupts into warfare over the terms for the availability to the Federation of scarce heavy metals. The trigger for hostilities is the publication of a research paper suggesting that the Moon may have previously unsuspected heavy metal resources which Earth proposes to monopolise. The Earth government''s intelligence agency suspects that confidential information concerning the exploitation of these mineral riches may be being leaked to the Federation and presses an accountant, Bertram Sadler, into service. Sadler is sent to the Moon''s main astronomical observatory located near the crater of Plato as a tip off has suggested that information is being routed through that location. Sadler''s cover story is that he is carrying out an investigation of waste in government spending. The rising political tension is accompanied by the observatory staff enjoying the good fortune of observing a nearby supernova explosion in the constellation of Draco. Despite a relatively long preceding era of peace, Earth and the Federation each prepare technologically for war. The Federation develops a new method of spacedrive propulsion while Earth develops new shielding technology and a weapon which uses an electromagnet-propelled bayonet of liquid metal. (The weapon mistaken for a beam of light). Such a weapon is currently being developed by DARPA. A climactic battle between three Federation cruisers and the fortified mining installation ("Project Thor") is played out near Mount Pico close to the lunar observatory. Two astronomers who have delivered a top Earth scientist to Pico with only a couple of hours to spare, witness the battle. Sadler, whose investigations have had no pay off except for the unmasking of an embezzling store manager, relinquishes his cover by going to debrief the two astronomers. Of the three Federal cruisers, two are destroyed along with the mine in the battle. The third cruiser, named The Acheron, is terminally damaged and retreats towards Mars, but has little chance of reaching it before her nuclear reactor explodes. However, her new drive gives her the capability of a rendezvous with a passenger liner, The Pegasus, which is able to rescue all but one of the crew who have to make the 40 second crossing without space suits. This inconclusive duel between mother planet and formerly dependent colonists, with each side suffering stiffer resistance than anticipated, discredits the governments on both sides. Sadler is able to return to civilian life but suffers nagging frustration that he never found out whether the spy that he was searching for existed or not. Many years later the commander of the Acheron writes his memoirs and reveals that information had reached the Federation from One of Earth''s most distinguished astronomers, now living in honoured retirement on the Moon. With this hint, Sadler is able to confirm the spy''s identity as Robert Molton, the first one of the observatory staff to greet him on his way to the observatory. The novel concludes with Moulton enlightening Sadler and the reader as to the brilliant technical subterfuge with which he transmitted information, namely that he used the observatory''s main telescope as a transmitter by placing a modulated ultra-violet source at its prime focus. The signal was received by a Federation spaceship a few million kilometers away.

Earthlight

The following synopsis of some of the major points in Eve''s Seed is based on information contained in the book''s official website. *Because men cannot compete with women’s capabilities in the crucial realms of reproduction and nourishing offspring, McElvaine argues, men generally seek to avoid a single standard of human behavior and achievement. They create separate definitions of “manliness” which are based on a false opposition to “womanliness.” A “real man” has been seen in most cultures as “notawoman.” *Although this viewpoint actually begins with woman as the “standard” human and proceeds to define man by its supposed vast differences from that standard, people do not like to see themselves in negative terms, so men have generally sought ways to transform woman into a negative, thus making man positive. *Human life—and the situation of both sexes—was radically changed about 10,000 years ago by the invention of agriculture, which in all likelihood was accomplished by women. *In one of his most striking contentions, McElvaine says that the story of Adam and Eve in the third chapter of Book of Genesis is an allegory for the invention of agriculture by women (Eve’s eating from the Tree of Knowledge) and its long-term consequences (the loss of what seemed in distant retrospect to have been a pre-agricultural paradise in which people lived easily, without work, simply picking fruit from trees, and man having to go forth and till the soil to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow). The “Fall of Man” is a metaphor for an actual fall of men. *McElvaine says that the development of methods for the intentional production of food (animal herding as well as agriculture) substantially devalued what men had traditionally done. Hunting was no longer needed and defense against other species declined in importance as groups of humans settled in growing numbers in farming areas into which predators ventured less frequently than their paths had crossed those of human hunter-gatherers. *The loss of value in their traditional roles left men adrift, seeking new meaningful roles, and increasingly resentful of women. The result was what can accurately be seen as a Neolithic and early Bronze Age backlash or “masculinist movement.” *At this point, McElvaine argues, there arose an almost irresistible metaphor, the very widespread acceptance of which has misshaped human life through all of recorded history. The apparent analogy of a seed being planted in furrowed soil to a male’s “planting” of semen in the vulva of a female led to the conclusion that men provide the seed of new life and women constitute the soil in which that seed grows. This Seed Metaphor, which McElvaine calls "the Conception Misconception," has remained with us throughout history and it continues to mislead us in profound ways down to the present. *The woman-made world of agriculture had, paradoxically, become a man''s world to a degree unprecedented in human existence. As McElvaine puts it: "Hell hath no fury like a man devalued." *The belief that men have procreative power led inevitably to the conclusion that the supreme Creative Power must also be male. The toxic fruit that grew from the Seed Metaphor, McElvaine says, was male monotheism. *The combination of the belief that God (or the god who is the ultimate creator) is male with the notion that humans are created in God''s image yielded the inescapable conclusion that men are closer than women to godly perfection. Thus the line from the misconceptions about conception emanating from the seed metaphor to the belief, given its classic expressions by Aristotle, Aquinas, and Freud, that women are deformed or “incomplete” men is clear and direct. *Once the Seed Metaphor had sprouted into the idea that God is male and so women are inferior, the original “notawoman” definition of manhood took on new and more menacing implications. Now what had been an essentially horizontal division became a clearly vertical one: traits and values associated with women were not simply classified as improper for men, but as inferior. *The total subordination of women throughout recorded history, McElvaine argues, is but the first part of the devastating legacy of the Neolithic backlash and the Seed Metaphor. Equally important has been the concomitant suppression in men of all values, ideas, and characteristics associated with women and so defined as inferior. The rest, he says, is history—pretty much all of it—and, the gains of women in recent decades notwithstanding, these legacies from mistaken ideas in the Neolithic Age continue to have enormous effects on us today.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

Consider Her Ways

No Author Listed

Rebecca's Tale

By Sally Beauman

Unknown man No. 89

By Elmore Leonard

The Monsters of Templeton

By Lauren Groff

Flash

By L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

The Young Admiral

By James Shirley

Asterix and the Normans

No Author Listed

L'Argent

By Émile Zola

"A" is for Alibi

By Sue Grafton

File Under Popular

No Author Listed

Earthlight

By Arthur C. Clarke

Eve's Seed: Biology, the Sexes, and the Course of History

By Robert S. McElvaine