The novel, set in fictional Raintree County, Indiana, is essentially in two parts; before the Civil War and after. It spans the 19th century history of the United States, from the pre-Civil War westward expansion, to the debate over slavery, to the Civil War, to the Industrial Revolution and the Labor Movement which followed. The book is often surreal, with dream sequences, flashbacks and departures from the linear narrative. It has been described as an effort to mythologize the history of America, which to a great degree it succeeds in doing through the eyes and the commentary of John Shawnessy. For example, a number of turning points in John''s life seem to coincide with Fourth of July celebrations. John, or ''Johnny'', as he was called before The War, is a lover of literature, and is influenced by three separate cultural icons: the concept of becoming a Hero, in the sense of the legendary figures of ancient Greece; Hawthorne''s The Great Stone Face, in which legend predicts that a great man will appear, whose face is identical to the natural stone face which, in the Hawthorne story, is a local landmark; and finally, the quest to find the legendary Raintree, which was supposedly planted somewhere in Raintree County by John Chapman, or Johnny Appleseed. Johnny Shawnessy tends to view the events of his life through the prism of one or more of these contexts, and to draw parallels to these legends, frequently with considerable justification. It is a long novel, around 400,000 words. Most editions run to about 1000 pages. The fictional town of Waycross was based on Straughn, Indiana and the fictional Raintree County was based on Henry County, Indiana.

Raintree County

Set in Arcadia, the play''s plot contains two strains: the main plot features Ceres and three of her nymphs, Nisa, Celia, and Niobe; the three foresters or shepherds who love them, Ramis, Montanus, and Silvestris; and Cupid. Cupid punishes the nymphs for their disdain of the shepherds, by transforming them into a rock, a rose, and a bird. The subplot involves the churlish and brutal peasant Erisichthon, who chops down a sacred tree and thereby takes the life of Fidelia, a transformed nymph. Ceres punishes him with famine, and he responds by selling his daughter Protea to a merchant. Protea escapes her servitude via a prayer to Neptune and a disguise as a fisherman; she returns home, and masquerades as the revenging ghost of Ulysses to rescue Petulius, her beloved, from a Siren. Ceres appeals to Cupid to release her nymphs; Cupid agrees, if Ceres will pardon Erisichthon. (The faithful love of Protea for Petulius has earned her Cupid''s protection.) The nymphs are restored to their original forms once they agree to accept the three humans as husbands; the quadruple wedding is held at the house of Erisichthon. Love''s Metamorphosis differs from most of Lyly''s plays in that it lacks the overtly comical and farcical elements that Lylian dramas normally possess. Strikingly, the play features none of the witty pages that are standard for Lyly. As a result, some critics have speculated that the extant text is a revised version of a more typical Lyly original.

Love''s Metamorphosis

After collecting a bounty, Jonah Hex takes up in a saloon for the night while acquiring the services of prostitutes. Two lawmen arrive at the saloon and give a prostitute a wanted poster to deliver to Hex showing that his mother, Virginia "Ginny" Dazzleby, is wanted for murder. In a flashback, it revealed that Hex has not seen his mother since childhood when she ran off and left Hex with his abusive father. Two days later, Hex''s horse is shot out from under him by two bandits and he briefly lies on the ground playing dead before shooting both bandits. Against Hex''s initial wishes, the bandits'' dog, which Hex calls Dag, decides to accompany Hex. Hex arrives at saloon to inquire about his mother and shoots a man who pesters him about his gunsmanship. The bartender directs Hex to the tent town located behind the town proper, where Hex encounters three men stealing diseased blankets to trade to Indians who settled on land they purchased. When the men try to rob Hex, he shoots one in the arm and dodges gunfire from the other two so that they shoot each other. A small boy who overheard Hex questioning the men about his mother steps forward saying she was kidnapped by a group of Mexicans heading south. While on their trail in Arizona, Hex comes across a Navajo village razed by the Mexicans so they could pass off the Navajo scalps as Apache and sell them. Hex catches up with the Mexicans in a saloon and kills them all. He finds his mother upstairs dying of tuberculosis. Hex''s mother mistakes him for the devil come to claim her soul. Before dying, Hex''s mother reveals that the Mexicans that captured her were working for El Papagayo and that she had another son by Dazzleby named Joshua. A woman at the bar named Edna reveals that Hex''s mother was taken as bait for Hex. Hex travels to Heaven''s Gate, Colorado to deliver his mother''s corpse to his half-brother and is informed upon arrival that Joshua is both the preacher and sheriff of the town and that the town has no saloon or whorehouse. Hex initially wants to leave right after delivering the body, but Joshua convinces him to stay for the funeral and to give up his guns while in town. Meanwhile, El Papagayo shows up at the saloon where Hex killed his men. He ties up and severely beats the bartender, his daughter and Edna and shoots Edna after she bites his hand. He then reveals that Hex''s father destroyed his village when he was a child and he swore revenge on Hex''s family. Back in Heaven''s Gate, Joshua tries to make peace with the differences between him and his half-brother, but Hex makes good on his promise to ride out after the funeral. However, shortly after leaving town, Hex spies El Papagayo with around fifty men riding towards the town. Hex returns to town and suggests that they run, but the townspeople decide to say and fight. The next day El Papagayo men ride into town and find Hex''s dog. El Papagayo orders one of his men to shoot it to prove his aim. They find the town otherwise deserted. The men arrive at the hot spring outside Heaven''s Gate and find the women of the town bathing in it. One of them claims that the town is populated only by women. When El Papagayo''s men jump into the water, the townsmen spring out of the water armed with various weapons. The townsmen win the initial skirmish, but Papagayo is not among the dead. Papagayo mows down some men with a Gatling gun and promises to spare the town if they turn Hex over. The townsmen over power Hex and attempt to hand him over, but when Papagayo hears Joshua refer to Hex as his brother, he shoots him, only hitting his arm. Hex breaks free, and Papagayo shoots him in the shoulder before Hex knocks the gun out of his hand. Papagayo reveals a knife hidden in his pants leg and stabs Hex through the arm. The fight continues until Hex pinned Papagayo and slits his throat with the knife still in his arm. Seeing their leader dead, El Papgayo''s men retreat. The story cuts to months later when Hex leaves Heaven''s Gate after staying with his brother to heal. On his way out, Hex stops by his mother''s grave, with Dag buried next to her, and tells her he doesn''t blame her for leaving.

Jonah Hex: No Way Back

The book''s main protagonist is Nicholas "Nick" Twisp, a 14-year-old boy of above-average intelligence. Nick''s life continues like a normal teenager''s with his best friend Leroy, a.k.a. Lefty, and his divorced parents George and Estelle. His mother is dating a truck driver named Jerry, who sells a group of sailors a Chevy Nova that dies soon after the sailors get it. In response, the sailors go for revenge. After outsmarting them, Jerry strategically decides to take a vacation, so they all go to a religious mobile home camp. It is there that Nick meets Sheridan "Sheeni" Saunders and his life is turned completely upside down. Through plots to get Sheeni closer to him he ends up with several crimes on his hands and is forced to run from the police. Nick tricks everyone into thinking he went to India, thereby escaping the police. Nick hides out with his sister Joanie and returns with help from his friend in Ukiah, Frank "Fuzzy" DeFalco. He dresses in Fuzzy''s late grandmother''s clothes, adopting the name Carlotta and a conservative disposition. As Nick does so, he befriends Sheeni and several other people who Nick knew before. While spending the night with Sheeni on Christmas Eve, she reveals to him that she knew from the beginning it was him, not Carlotta. Nick then gets "the best Christmas present a youth could receive," starting a secret relationship with Sheeni. Nick inherits a fortune when an elderly neighbor of Joanie takes a liking to him and decides to put him in her will. When Joanie''s neighbor died, Nick is briefly left half a million dollars richer, until his mother''s boyfriend, a somewhat corrupt police officer, seizes the money. Faced with homelessness from the loss of the house he had been squatting in, Nick becomes rich beyond belief when an idea of his, a wart watch, makes it big.

Youth in Revolt

The story concerns a small town Michigan cafe owner, Tom McKenna, who becomes a local hero after defending his store from an attempted robbery. When his story receives national attention, several members of the New York City Mafia arrive in town, believing him to be someone named Joey, who crossed them 20 years earlier. Tom protests his innocence to everyone, but eventually his façade is dropped and he is forced to confess his history of violence to his wife and son and eventually the police. Namely, he and his friend performed a well planned and spectacular assassination and robbery of mobsters in their youth in retaliation for the murder of a relative. Unfortunately, Tom''s friend foolishly decided to flaunt his take, which allowed the mob to identify him as one of the assailants and abduct him for revenge. Meanwhile, Tom barely escaped the same fate and fled the city with the intent of starting over with a new identity. Fortunately for McKenna and his family, their lawyer arrives and learns that the police failed to Mirandize him, which makes his confession inadmissible in court. However, as the McKenna family is transported to the father''s original city to deal with related legal matters, the mobsters learn of McKenna''s detention and plan their revenge with a horrific surprise.

A History of Violence

Set in the late 1980s, the story is written from the perspective of David Zimmer, a university professor who, after losing his wife and children in a plane crash, falls into a routine of depression and isolation. After seeing one of the silent comedies of Hector Mann, an actor missing since the 1920s, he decides to occupy himself by watching all of Mann''s films and writing a book about them. The publishing of the book, however, triggers another series of events that draw Zimmer even deeper into the actor''s past. The middle of the story is largely dedicated to telling the life story of Hector Mann, involving his self-imposed exile from his past life and career, which serves as a form of penance for his role in the death of a woman who loved him. In his last days, his wife sends a letter to Zimmer, requesting him to come to their New Mexico home to bear witness to Mann''s final legacy of films. The events that ensue form the overarching story of Zimmer''s rehabilitation from his reclusive state, and his coming to terms with the manner in which his family was killed.

The Book of Illusions

The novel begins with Nicky DeSota, a timid mortgage broker in a fascist America who draws the unwelcome attention of Nyla Christophe, an FBI agent investigating a break-in at a government lab by what proves to be a Dominic DeSota from an alternate universe. Used as a pawn by Christophe''s con-man boyfriend Larry Douglas to entrap an activist former actor (who turns out to be Ronald Reagan), he is later detained and brought to New Mexico to unravel a mystery. The focus then shifts to another Dominic DeSota, a United States Senator having an affair with Nyla Christophe Bowquist, who in this world is a famous violinist. Contacted by the military, he travels to Sandia National Laboratories, where he meets an identical version of himself—a "Cat" from an alternate universe. As Senator DeSota interviews his alternate-universe counterpart, the man vanishes after offering a cryptic warning. As the senator leaves the building, he and the base commander are captured by a detachment of troops led by Major Dominic P. DeSota, the commander of a military force from yet another universe. Major DeSota''s mission is revealed to be to secure the parallel-world research facilities of Senator DeSota''s universe, which is the first step in a larger military operation. In Major DeSota''s universe (which is subsequently designated Paratime Gamma) a militaristic United States is engaged in a tense standoff with the Soviet Union, and wants to use Senator DeSota''s universe (Paratime Epsilon) to launch sneak attacks against them. After being transported to Paratime Gamma, Senator DeSota manages to escape by distracting his guard (Gamma''s version of Nyla Christophe) and escaping through a portal with a scientist to Paratime Tau—the home universe of Nicky DeSota. After being discovered in the desert, Senator DeSota and the scientist—who is Larry Douglas from another universe—are captured and interrogated by Agent Christophe. In an interrogation session involving the senator, the scientist, and their counterparts from Paratime Tau, Douglas reveals that he is from Paratime Alpha, and that he was forced by the military in Paratime Gamma to give them the ability to travel between universes. As Agent Christophe begins to pressure Douglas to give her government similar assistance, she and the other FBI agent with her are rendered unconscious by knockout darts fired by Dominic DeSota—the same Dominic DeSota who had escaped interrogation in Sandia. DeSota brings the entire group back to his universe—Paratime Alpha—where he explains that since the senator''s escape that Paratime Gamma has invaded the Epsilon''s Washington D.C. in a failed bid to capture the president. He also reveals that travel between universes is creating a growing problem of "ballistic recoil," where the boundaries between the universes is growing weaker, causing matter and energy to cross unintentionally from one universe to the next (something depicted in interludes between the chapters). He brings the travelers to Washington D.C., where they cross over to Paratime Epsilon in an effort to help stop the invasion. Before they can help, however, every "Cat" located in a different universe disappears, along with any scientists involved in paratime research. There they are informed that they have been transported by a group of more advanced alternate Earths in order to stop ballistic recoil before it escalates and the barriers between universes become irreparably permeable. The "Cats" are relocated to New York City on a new Earth, one being resettled after its inhabitants wiped themselves out. There the paratime transplants gradually settle into new lives. Six months after his arrival, Nicky DeSota returns to New York to propose to Agent Christophe. Now working on a collective farm in Palm Springs, he has embraced the opportunity for a new life and developed into a much more confident man. After considering his proposal, the Nyla of his world accepts. On their trip back to California, however, Nicky reveals to her his expectation that their transplantation has not solved the problem of paratime travel—that with an infinite number of Earths, the number of them that will develop the ability to cross into alternate worlds will only increase, so many that the problem of ballistic recoil may prove to be unavoidable.

The Coming of the Quantum Cats

Glinnes Hulden returns to Trullion after ten years of service in the Whelm, the Connatic''s military force. Glinnes'' older brother Shira is missing, so being an hour older than his sullen twin brother Glay, he finds himself the owner of the family holdings. However, while he was away, Glay had sold a choice island to an off-worlder, Lute Casagave. Glinnes wants the land back, but cannot come up with the 12,000 ozols, since Glay had already spent the proceeds. After an argument, Glay moves out. His mother also leaves, to go live with Akadie, a professional consultant and mentor. Glinnes evicts a Trevanyi family invited by Glay to camp on Hulden land. Later, they take revenge by ambushing him, robbing him of his life savings and leaving him unconscious for the merlings to kill. Fortunately, he wakes up before that can happen. Glinnes learns that the local, somewhat-impoverished aristocrat, Lord Gensifer, is recruiting a professional team to play hussade. The object is to grasp the golden ring attached to the clothing of the other team''s sheirl, who must be a virgin. A ransom is paid and play resumes, but when a team runs out of funds, the ring is pulled and the sheirl''s clothing falls away in full view of the spectators. Seeing an opportunity to earn the ozols he needs, Glinnes joins the "Gorgons". However, Gensifer insists on being the team captain. Several matches show that he is exceptionally inept; Glinnes and the rest of the better players quit in disgust. Their last opponent, the "Tanchineros", is a team whose strengths match the weaknesses of the Gorgons and vice versa. Glinnes and his fellow Gorgons are recruited, and a strong team is born. Duissane, a member of the Trevanyi family Glinnes evicted, agrees to be their sheirl. The new Tanchineros are successful immediately, winning and playing ever-better teams for more money. Finally, Glinnes half-jokingly challenges Lord Gensifer to a match. Surprisingly, Gensifer accepts. Gensifer unveils a whole new team for the match, an excellent touring team from off-world, but the Tanchineros are prepared. The teams are evenly matched, except in one respect: in his vanity, Gensifer has taken over as captain. The Tanchineros take advantage of this weakness. However, as Glinnes is grasping the opposing sheirl''s gold ring for the final time, a notorious starmenter (space pirate) named Sagmondo Bandolio seizes the stadium and kidnaps three hundred of the wealthiest spectators for ransom, as well as several hundred women for other, darker purposes. Glinnes escapes with both sheirls. They hide out on a deserted island. One sheirl is grateful for her rescue, but Duissane is disgusted and leaves in the boat. The remaining sheirl suggests that perhaps Duissane is in love with Glinnes. When they are finally rescued, Glinnes learns that Akadie has been assigned to collect the enormous ransom demanded. Glinnes reluctantly agrees to hold onto it when Akadie fears being robbed. Duissane spends the night with Glinnes, believing that he will steal the money and take her off-world to live a life of luxury. However, Glinnes had, out of curiosity, already opened the package and found worthless papers inside; Akadie had apparently used him as a decoy. Duissane leaves, extremely distraught by this revelation. After she has gone, Glinnes notices that the ransom was actually hidden under the papers. Akadie picks up the money and gives it to Bandolio''s man. Shortly afterwards, the Whelm finds Bandolio''s hideout and captures him, but the ransom is not found and many suspect that Akadie still has it. Glinnes, through diligent investigation, finds the money in a locker. The courier was killed before he could deliver it, apparently by the inside man who arranged the mass kidnapping with Bandolio. Glinnes also deduces the identity of Bandolio''s partner. Rhyl Shermatz, a self-styled "wandering journalist," turns out to be an important government official. Glinnes convinces him to bring Bandolio to Lord Gensifer''s wedding to Duissane. While there, he encounters Lute Casagave. When Bandolio gleefully identifies him as a retired, rival starmenter, Glinnes unexpectedly gets back his island. However, he is not the man Glinnes came to unmask. That turns out to be the groom. Gensifer flees, but tumbles into the water and falls victim to the merlings. Shermatz (in reality the Connatic) strongly suspects that Glinnes has the ransom, but has no strong motivation to pursue the issue. Everyone else believes the money is lost for good. Duissane, her plans derailed once again, wanders away disconsolate. Glinnes follows her.

Trullion: Alastor 2262

Almost 100 years after A. (which we find out stands for Albert) Square''s adventures that were related in Flatland, his great-great-granddaughter, Victoria Line (Vikki), finds a copy of his book in her basement. This prompts her to invite a sphere from Spaceland to visit her, but instead she is visited by the "Space Hopper" (a character looking somewhat like the "Space Hopper" children''s toy with a gigantic grin, horns and a spherical body). The Space Hopper, more than being able to move between Flatland and Spaceland, can travel to any space in the Mathiverse, a set of all imaginable worlds. After showing Vikki higher dimensions, he begins showing her more modern theories, such as fractional dimensions and dimensions with isolated points. Topology and hyperbolic geometry are also discussed, as well as the Projective "Plain" (complete with intersecting "lions") and the quantum level. Hopper and Victoria also visit the Domain of the Hawk King to discuss time travel and the Theory of Relativity.

Flatterland

The six Find-Outers are having a chance tea at a local gymkhana with Inspector Jenks and his goddaughter Hilary when a robbery occurs in a nearby large house. The mysterious robber disappears from the scene of the crime without a trace - as if he were invisible and cannot be found. The robbed house turns out to be that of Hilary, so the children have the perfect excuse to investigate as they take the upset girl home. The mysterious thief leaves only a few clues behind - enormous footprints, enormous glove prints, a strange criss-cross mark on the ground, and two torn pieces of paper. The clues do not seem to make any sense. Of all the Peterswood villagers, only policeman Mr Goon and Colonel Cross have feet big enough to fit the footprints, and the thief cannot be either of them. The Five Find-Outers and dog decide that they will find the culprit before Mr. Goon does. Fatty uses his disguises to gather important information, and in doing so outwits Mr Goon, especially when both go at the same time to see Colonel Cross to ask him about his large shoes. Mr Goon disguises himself three times but on each occasion the Find-Outers see through the disguise straight away. The thief strikes again several times, once in Fatty''s own shed,and on each occasion the same clues are found - but apparently nobody sees the thief. Finally, Fatty discovers the identity of the thief, and the reason for the enormous footprints. The thief is actually the baker, a small man, who used the boots to give the impression that he was larger than he was, thus planting a false trail and allowing him to use escape options such as climbing out a window and down a drainpipe that would have been impossible for a man of the apparent size of the thief.

The Mystery of the Invisible Thief

In Harstad''s novel, Albert is 42 years old and still lives with his father in the same apartment. When his father suddenly dies, Albert sees it as an opportunity to finally create the life for himself that he longed for all these years he was taking care of his father. A large part of the novel is made up of a flashback to 1985-86 when Albert traveled around Europe with his friend Viktor, and by coincidence ends up in Hong Kong and later Paris, where he meets a girl and almost decides to stay for good, before ending up returning to his father in Hässelby. The novel starts as a traditional novel exploring themes such as the relationship between father and son, growing up in suburbia, friendship and politics, but throughout the novel the tone gradually gets darker and darker as more surreal elements are introduced. The novel ends as a nightmarish tale where Albert discovers that someone have been following him for over twenty years, all over the world, and that the world is coming to an end.

Hässelby

The book is written as an autobiographical account of the life of Abdul Alhazred, the author of the legendary grimoire known as the Necronomicon. The book does not draw on any previous accounts of Alhazred''s life, but portrays him instead as a tragic antihero. The book begins with a short narrative describing how Alhazred was tortured as a young man by the ruthless king of his home city, which is explained in gruesome detail. The tortures endured by Alhazred (and his subsequent banishment from his home) contribute to his violent attitude as an adult, which leads him to commit, among other acts, cannibalism, the murder of innocent children, and assisting a cult of ghouls in their war against a rival clan. Throughout his travels, Alhazred learns to use his abilities (lack of empathy, uncanny agility, and the ability to communicate with the dead) to survive, often in gratuitously self-serving ways. He accumulates an array of grim survival tools, such as an obsidian blade and mysterious spiders which, when eaten, grant him the ability to see in the dark and amplified hearing. He also encounters many beings and characters from the Cthulhu Mythos in which his adventures take place.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

Raintree County

By Ross Lockridge, Jr.

Love's Metamorphosis

By John Lyly

Jonah Hex: No Way Back

No Author Listed

Youth in Revolt

By C.D. Payne

A History of Violence

By John Wagner

The Book of Illusions

By Paul Auster

The Coming of the Quantum Cats

By Frederik Pohl

Trullion: Alastor 2262

By Jack Vance

Flatterland

By Ian Stewart

The Mystery of the Invisible Thief

No Author Listed

Hässelby

No Author Listed

Alhazred

No Author Listed