Bøger af Stephen Pearl

"What Do Toilet Paper and Air Travel Have in Common?" "No, We Will Not Pardon Your French." "Sex, American Style," or "How to Confound the Scrooges Who Cut Off Funds for Your Cherished Project and Astound the Public into Buying Your Book at the Same Time." Are these joke setups? Punch lines? Well, yes and no: they're titles of essays from a humorous, meandering collection titled What's in a Name? And Other Pieces of My Mind. Whose mind, you ask? Oh, what a beautiful mind it is: that of Stephen Pearl-an erudite Brit who served in the Royal Air Force, attended Oxford, worked as a UN interpreter in New York, developed an innovative method for training simultaneous interpreters, and translated several Russian classics (whew!). Pearl puts his considerable brainpower to good use in dozens of essays touching on everything from global warming to Monday Night Football. Though Pearl clearly has addressed a wide range of topics, he manages to organize them into four categories: "What's in a Name?" "Americana," "The Sexes," and "Other Pieces." Whether you're looking for an entertaining diversion or a paradigm shift, you'll find it within these pages.

Newly returned to Orkney from liberating the Horn of the Kraken, Fjorn and his crew are dispatched by Jarl Erik Blood-Axe on an impossible mission. Spies report that King Aethelstan seeks the spear that slew fair Baldur, which is hidden in the Kingdome of Northumbria. Fjorn's crew must travel through a world locked in Fimbulwinter to face battles that would earn songs in the mead halls of the gods themselves. Where is the elusive Spear of Destiny, and can its guardians be convinced to give it up? What secrets does Jolnir, a newcomer to the group on loan from the guardsmen of Jarl Erik, hold? How can victory be gained when Crusaders and Trolls align to crush the city of Jorvic?