The Best Short Stories 2024: The O. Henry Prize Winners

Amor Towles, Jenny Minton Quigley
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“A diverse and glorious selection . . . a gift of imagination, wit, and wonder. The collection is filled with miniature masterpieces. . . . This must-have anthology is a treasure trove not to be missed.” —Library Journal (starred review)

The prestigious annual story anthology, featuring prize-winning stories by Kate DiCamillo, Jess Walter, Dave Eggers, Allegra Goodman, Jai Chakrabarti, Francisco Gonzalez, and more.

Continuing a century-long tradition of cutting-edge literary excellence, this year's edition contains twenty prizewinning stories chosen from the thousands published in magazines over the previous year. Guest editor Amor Towles has brought his own refreshing perspective to the prize, selecting stories by an engaging mix of celebrated names and emerging voices. The winning stories are accompanied by an introduction by Towles, observations from the winning writers on what inspired them, and an extensive resource list of magazines that publish short fiction.

THE WINNING STORIES

“Roy,” Emma Binder
“The Soccer Balls of Mr. Kurz,” Michele Mari (translated from the Italian by Brian Robert Moore)
“Orphans,” Brad Felver
“The Home Visit,” Morris Collins
“The Import,” Jai Chakrabarti
“Didi,” Amber Caron
“Serranos,” Francisco González
“Hiding Spot,” Caroline Kim
“Junior,” Katherine D. Stutzman
“My Good Friend,” Juliana Leite (translated from the Portuguese by Zoë Perry)
"The Castle of Rose Tellin,” Kate DiCamillo
"Rain,” Colin Barrett
“Marital Problems,” Robin Romm
“The Last Grownup,” Allegra Goodman
“The Honor of Your Presence,” Dave Eggers
“The Paper Artist,” E. K. Ota
“The Room-Service Waiter,” Tom Crewe
“Seeing Through Maps,” Madeline ffitch
“The Dark,” Jess Walter
“Mobilization,” Allegra Hyde

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

天堂春夢：二十世紀香港電影史論

游靜
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電影是時代變遷的見證者！
本書重溯香港上世紀20至90年代的文化脈絡，
建構出香港電影中文化政治的史觀，
對昨日與今日的香港，提供不一樣的理解。

作者游靜爬梳大量原始資料，穿梭於電影個案解讀、影人自述，及時空政治脈絡分析；大歷史與微歷史之間，國、粵片兼論，細緻勾勒出香港百年璀燦光影，洞察歷史足印的偶然與必然，為華語電影研究、殖民及冷戰研究、香港文化研究，開創新天。同時提出關鍵探索及叩問：

▎對香港的思考成為協助反思其他華語文化歷史的資源。
▎作為華語電影世界的夢工場，香港電影的獨特貢獻在哪些方面。
▎香港電影史如何與文學史息息相關？
▎香港電影成為無權無勢的庶民抒解焦慮不安的重要場域。
▎李小龍的奮不顧身是香港傳奇的比喻。
▎香港主流道德價值曾經歷怎樣的翻新打造。
▎「大冷戰」與「小冷戰」如何影響香港電影發展？
▎香港電影史如何同時見證殖民治理與文化冷戰的軌跡？
▎資本主義現代性怎樣改造性／別關係，風月片如何展現反殖心結。
▎新浪潮電影如何叩問香港的冷戰前沿位置？
▎喜劇是香港夢的呈現？無厘頭揭示時代的壓迫、港式主體的反撲？

透過回顧香港電影史，進一步深思過去耳熟能詳的電影、人物、性別角色、文化歷史及其構成，體味今天華語以致全球流行文化，如何依舊從這份龐大深厚的歷史遺產中取經。

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)

Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents―and What They Mean for America's Future

Jean M. Twenge
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A groundbreaking, “lavishly informative” (The New York Times) portrait of the six generations that currently live in the United States and how they connect, conflict, and compete with one another—from the acclaimed author of Generation Me and iGen.

Upending the conventional theory that generational differences are caused by major events, Dr. Jean Twenge analyzes data on 39 million people from robust national surveys—some going back nearly a century—to show that changes in technology are the underlying driver of each generation’s unique makeup. In this revelatory work, Twenge outlines key shifts in attitudes and lifestyle choices that define each generation regarding gender, income, politics, race, sexuality, marriage, mental health, and much more.

Surprising, engaging, and informative, Generations “gets you thinking about how appreciating generational differences can, ironically, bring us together” (Angela Duckworth, New York Times bestselling author). It will forever change the way you view your parents, peers, coworkers, and children, no matter which generation you call your own.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

記憶決定你是誰 : 探索心智基礎, 學習如何記憶 (Why We Remember)

蘭迦納特 (Charan Ranganath)
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美國亞馬遜書店編輯選書
《紐約時報》、《洛杉磯時報》暢銷書

請花一點時間，思考一下自己是誰。想想身邊最親近的人、你的工作、目前的生活狀況。是哪些生命經驗，造就今天的你？是什麼樣的選擇，引領你到現在這個時空？

這一切都與記憶息息相關。
記憶決定了你是誰，在背後影響你的決定。

記憶是大腦的重要功能，幫助我們學習新事物、認識新面孔，影響我們的人際關係、人生選擇和自我認同，甚至形塑人類社會。雖然回想記憶時跟呼吸一樣自然，但我們經常只關注自己記得哪些事，沒有多加認識記憶的真正特質：
　　•遺忘是人類的天性，我們記不住每一件事。
　　•壓力會牽動一系列化學物質，影響記憶力。
　　•記憶具有可塑性，可以修改，也可以植入。
　　•記憶的關鍵不是記錄過去，而是詮釋過去。

對記憶抱持錯誤期待、不曾質疑為什麼記得或如何記得、很少留意記憶與情緒之間的關聯，讓我們錯失善用記憶改變自己的機會。

蘭迦納特教授研究記憶多年，在《記憶決定你是誰》中帶領我們認識大腦，了解多巴胺等神經調節物質如何影響記憶與學習，並指出人類是群居動物，記憶是眾人之事。他透過阿茲海默症、創傷後壓力症候群等患者的案例，說明記憶障礙不僅影響個人，更會對社會造成衝擊；還藉由親友之間的交流實驗，解釋共同記憶是如何創造，以及如何利用社會互動重新建構更好的生命敘事。

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)

You Are Here: A Novel

David Nicholls
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THE INSTANT #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

A Good Housekeeping "Book We're Most Looking Forward To" * An Independent Today "Best Fiction Books to Read" * A GQ Magazine (UK) "Best Book of 2024" * A Harper’s Bazaar (UK) "Best Novels to Read" * A Daily Record "Best Novel"

"Captivating [and] flawless...An affectingly hard-won romance. [Michael is] a sturdy and slyly amusing authority figure, … flailing amid the debris of a loving marriage gone sour. Marnie is a compulsively witty, winningly cranky near-agoraphobe...Both protagonists are prickly, smart and desperately yearning, but utterly guarded for understandably good reasons. Nicholls builds his own erotic and at times wrenchingly emotional suspense as the would-be lovers reveal past mishaps and surrendered dreams... As in the best romances, we cherish Michael’s and Marnie’s difficult personalities, and relish the unlikely process that might bring them together. The novel is sharp-tongued and irresistible."—New York Times Book Review

Sometimes you need to get lost to find your way . . .

Michael is coming undone. Adrift after his wife's departure, he has begun taking himself on long, solitary walks across the English countryside. Becoming ever more reclusive, he’ll do anything to avoid his empty house.

Marnie, on the other hand, is stuck. Hiding alone in her London flat, she avoids old friends and any reminders of her rotten, selfish ex-husband. Curled up with a good book, she’s battling the long afternoons of a life that feels like it’s passing her by.

When a persistent mutual friend and some very unpredictable weather conspire to toss Michael and Marnie together on the most epic of ten-day hikes, neither of them can think of anything worse. Until, of course, they discover exactly what they’ve been looking for.

Michael and Marnie are on the precipice of a bright future . . . if they can survive the journey.

A hilarious, hopeful, and heartwarming love story—the novel beloved New York Times bestselling author David Nicholls calls “my funniest book yet”—You Are Here is a bittersweet and hopeful story of first encounters, second chances, and finding the way home.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

擠迫之城的戀愛方法

黃怡
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要認識一座城市有簡單的方法，
就是去看民眾怎麼工作，愛戀與死亡。
──卡繆

地狹人稠、生活空間緊縮、行事節奏迅速，這一切形塑了香港獨特的價值觀，以及戀愛方式。生活在空隙中的人們如同打不死的蕨草，總能在最不可思議的狀況下變通、生存，並開出各種奇異之花。
本書以香港這座奇特之城為展開，作家在擁擠的城市裡，為虛構的戀人們裝置了不同的障礙賽和規則，觀察他們如何因應限制找到談情說愛的獨特方法，探知他們的逃避與迎合，生動地描寫了戀人的千姿百態，各種背景、性格和性取向的都盡錄其中。
情緒被動員起來的戀人們，在髮膚之間的距離裡便能引燃一場戀愛，上演一幕又一幕溫柔、狂野、信任、猜忌、寬容、嫉妒、期待、絕望、愛惜、冷淡的「感情思想實驗」。
「寫小說對我來說，常常是一種理解世界的方法，而愛情小說作為方法，讓我能以有時抒情、有時搞笑的角度重新審視這座城市的不同面貌。」──黃怡

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)

The Nvidia Way: Jensen Huang and the Making of a Tech Giant

Tae Kim
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Nvidia is the darling of the age of artificial intelligence: the company’s chips are powering the generative-AI revolution, and demand is insatiable. For all the current interest and attention, however, Nvidia is not of our time. Founded more than three decades ago in a Denny’s in East San Jose, for years it was known primarily in the then-niche world of computer gaming. In fact, the company’s leather-jacketed leader, Jensen Huang, is the longest-serving CEO in an industry marked by near constant turmoil and failure.

In The Nvidia Way, acclaimed tech writer Tae Kim draws on more than one hundred interviews—including Jensen (as he is known) and his cofounders, the two original venture capital investors, early former employees, and current senior executives—to show how Nvidia played the longest of long games, repeatedly creating new markets and outmaneuvering competitors, including the original semiconductor giant, Intel, which now finds itself well behind the upstart. Kim offers revelations at every step, among them:
An authoritative, myth-busting account of Nvidia’s founding in 1993.
How Nvidia managed to overcome early missteps that would have killed most start-ups.
The benefits of Nvidia’s flat organizational structure, which allows even low-level employees to contribute to the direction of the company.
How Jensen’s obsession with solving the Innovator’s Dilemma—the trend of entrenched market leaders falling to smaller, nimbler companies—drove him to reinvent his approach to corporate strategy.
How Nvidia saw the coming AI wave sooner than anyone else, and how it bet its future on a technology that had not yet arrived.

A rare view into Nvidia’s distinct culture and Jensen’s management principles, The Nvidia Way is a book for our moment as well as an instant classic of business history, with enduring lessons for entrepreneurs and managers alike.

“A captivating history of one of the world’s most important companies and what made it so great. Tae Kim deftly narrates Nvidia’s incredible achievements and instructive failures, and also captures the unique philosophies, motivations, and bets of its founders, scientists, and staffers.”—Matthew Ball, best-selling author of The Metaverse: Building the Spatial Internet

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

解構滋味：香港飲食文學與文化研究論集

蕭欣浩
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★ 文學跨界文化、飲食文學、都市生活的最新研究！

飲食圍繞日常，當中文化最容易被忽略。蕭欣浩博士花十年時間，研究香港飲食文學及文化，探討飲食的相關課題，結集成《解構滋味：香港飲食文學與文化研究論集》。

本書題材從古代的甲骨文、蘇軾的詩文，到上世紀五、六十年代的粵語片、茶餐廳文化，以至香港作家也斯的創作、内地作家蘇童的小說與台灣作家劉克襄的散文，探討飲食於不同時空的文化意義。蕭欣浩博士以學者兼廚師的身分，呈現一道道美食背後，文學、電影與文化構成的人間滋味。

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)