The Night Of The First Billion

Author : Ghada Samman
Publisher : Syracuse University Press
Page : 572 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2005-02-01
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 0815608292

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The Night of the First Billion by Ghada Samman Pdf

Set in Geneva, Switzerland, around the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, this intricately plotted novel probes the emotional misfortunes of Arab men and women fleeing the horror of war only to find their ways of life constantly challenged by their foreign surroundings. The author's scalding critique of the Lebanese situation resonates with strong sociopolitical issues. Here are telling portraits of class oppression and the role of women in Arab society, the treatments of war and sexuality, of immigration, of cultural assimilation and nationalism. With supreme artistry and insight—and in modern Arab literary fashion—Ghada Samman skillfully blends realism with fantasy into a highly stylized, thematically multilayered tale. It is at once a Gothic romance and a suspenseful whodunit with engaging characters. At the same time it is a gripping study of social injustice and the consequences of wartime upheaval. Far from home and out of harm's way, Samman's Lebanese exiles repeat and replay the very same conflicts that torment them in their own land even as it is under siege. The Night of the First Billion is an eloquent reminder that the only genuine security in the most profound and human sense of the word is to be found in the courageous willingness to confront, challenge, and finally to ease suffering.

Author : Christopher Reich
Publisher : Dell
Page : 610 pages
File Size : 40,9 Mb
Release : 2003-07-29
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9780440234692

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The First Billion by Christopher Reich Pdf

Christopher Reich electrified readers with Numbered Account and The Runner, his first two international thrillers. Now the New York Times bestselling author whose work has been called “gripping” (Chicago Tribune), “chilling” (The Denver Post), “wonderful” (The New York Times Book Review), ratchets up the stakes in an ingeniously plotted story of nerve-jangling intrigue and hot-wired suspense. Using today’s cutthroat global economy as a backdrop, The First Billion explodes into a breakneck tale of betrayal, revenge, and redemption... John “Jett” Gavallan is a former fighter pilot, now the high-flying CEO of Black Jet Securities, an investment firm that earned its first billion before the techno dream crashed and burned. Poised for an offering crucial to his company’s survival, Gavallan is banking on the riskiest gamble of his dazzling career. In exactly six days, he will take Mercury Broadband, Russia’s leading media company, public on the New York Stock Exchange. But rumors of fraud have suddenly surfaced that could send the deal south. Gavallan makes a preemptive strike by dispatching his number-two man--fellow Desert Storm fighter pilot Grafton Byrnes--to Moscow to penetrate the shadowy Russian multinational. When Byrnes fails to return, Gavallan fears the worst. But the truth is even more diabolical than he can imagine. Plunging into a desperate search for his best friend, the renegade top gun is suddenly fighting a different kind of war, where there is no safe harbor and no one he can trust. Not Konstantin Kirov, the elusive head of Mercury Broadband who may not be what he seems. Not the bankers and traders Gavallan does business with every day. Not the exotic beauty who has told him all her deepest secrets--except one. Suddenly Jett finds himself trapped in a conspiracy that could shatter the delicate balance between nations--and plunge the global economy into chaos. Hunted by the F.B.I. and a band of elite killers, Jett races from Palm Beach to Zurich to Moscow in a desperate search for answers. But for this brave ex-commando haunted by visions of war, the truth comes at a terrible price. With Mercury rising and the hours ticking down, he is moving closer to a place where murder and revenge are the currency of choice...and where the first billion is the ultimate insider secret--and the deadliest obsession of all. With breakneck plotting, stunning realism, and a sense of danger that keeps the heart racing, The First Billion is a knockout of a novel that will linger long after the final shocking twist is revealed.

Author : Ghada Samman,Nancy N Roberts
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 547 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2005
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 9774249178

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The Night of the First Billion by Ghada Samman,Nancy N Roberts Pdf

Author : T. Boone Pickens
Publisher : Crown Currency
Page : 290 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2009-09-08
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780307396013

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The First Billion Is the Hardest by T. Boone Pickens Pdf

It’s Never Too Late to Top Your Personal Best. Both a riveting account of a life spent pulling off improbable triumphs and a report back from the front of the global-energy and natural-resource wars, The First Billion Is the Hardest tells the story of the remarkable late-life comeback that brought the famed oilman and maverick back from bankruptcy and clinical depression. Along the way, the man often called the “Oracle of Oil” shares the insights that have made him a legend–and describes the billion-dollar bets he is now making in hopes of securing America’s energy independence. “Sassy...breezes along...salted with earthy aphorisms.”—Bloomberg Businessweek “Boone’s analysis of America’ s energy situation is 100 percent on the money....The country should listen to him– now!” —Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway “Self-deprecating and audacious...overall, it’s decidedly informative about the machinations of business.” –Dallas Morning News “A fascinating, eye-opening book by one of America’s greatest iconoclasts and entrepreneurs. Boone Pickens’ sense of daring and innovation has never been sharper.”–Steve Forbes, president and CEO, Forbes Inc., and editor in chief of Forbes magazine

Author : Lewis Thomas
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 176 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 1995-05-01
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781101667040

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Late Night Thoughts on Listening to Mahler's Ninth Symphony by Lewis Thomas Pdf

This magnificent collection of essays by scientist and National Book Award-winning writer Lewis Thomas remains startlingly relevant for today’s world. Luminous, witty, and provocative, the essays address such topics as “The Attic of the Brain,” “Falsity and Failure,” “Altruism,” and the effects the federal government’s virtual abandonment of support for basic scientific research will have on medicine and science. Profoundly and powerfully, Thomas questions the folly of nuclear weaponry, showing that the brainpower and money spent on this endeavor are needed much more urgently for the basic science we have abandoned—and that even medicine’s most advanced procedures would be useless or insufficient in the face of the smallest nuclear detonation. And in the title essay, he addresses himself with terrifying poignancy to the question of what it is like to be young in the nuclear age. “If Wordsworth had gone to medical school, he might have produced something very like the essays of Lewis Thomas.”—TIME “No one better exemplifies what modern medicine can be than Lewis Thomas.”—The New York Times Book Review

Author : Ted Turner,Bill Burke
Publisher : Business Plus
Page : 295 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 2008-11-10
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780446543361

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Call Me Ted by Ted Turner,Bill Burke Pdf

"Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise!" These words of fatherly advice helped shape Ted Turner's remarkable life, but they only begin to explain the colorful, energetic, and unique style that has made Ted into one of the most amazing personalities of our time. Along the way - among his numerous accomplishments - Ted became one of the richest men in the world, the largest land owner in the United States, revolutionized the television business with the creation of TBS and CNN, became a champion sailor and winner of the America's Cup, and took home a World Series championship trophy in 1995 as owner of the Atlanta Braves. An innovative entrepreneur, outspoken nonconformist, and groundbreaking philanthropist, Ted Turner is truly a living legend, and now, for the first time, he reveals his personal story. From his difficult childhood to the successful launch of his media empire to the catastrophic AOL/Time Warner deal, Turner spares no details or feelings and takes the reader along on a wild and sometimes bumpy ride. You'll also hear Ted's personal take on how we can save the world...share his experiences in the dugout on the day when he appointed himself as manager of the Atlanta Braves....learn how he almost lost his life in the 1979 Fastnet sailing race (but came out the winner)...and discover surprising details about his dealings with Fidel Castro, Mikhail Gorbachev, Jimmy Carter, Bill Gates, Jack Welch, Warren Buffett, and many more of the most influential people of the past half century. Ted also doesn't shrink from the darker and more intimate details of his life. With his usual frankness, he discusses a childhood of loneliness (he was left at a boarding school by his parents at the tender age of four), and the emotional impact of devastating losses (Ted's beloved sister died at seventeen and his hard-charging father committed suicide when Ted was still in his early twenties). Turner is also forthcoming about his marriages, including the one to Oscar-winning actress, Jane Fonda. Along the way, Ted's friends, colleagues, and family are equally revealing in their unique "Ted Stories" which are peppered throughout the book. Jane Fonda, especially, provides intriguing insights into Ted's inner drive and character. In Call Me Ted, you'll hear Ted Turner's distinctive voice on every page. Always forthright, he tells you what makes him tick and what ticks him off, and delivers an honest account of what he's all about. Inspiring and entertaining, Call Me Ted sheds new light on one of the greatest visionaries of our time.

Author : Fāḍil ʻAzzāwī
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 131 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2011
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9789774164620

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The Traveler and the Innkeeper by Fāḍil ʻAzzāwī Pdf

From the Iraqi author of Cell Block Five. This timely, elegant novel's hero is an Iraqi secret police inspector who routinely uses enhanced interrogation techniques, which even he considers torture. Convinced that he is protecting society from anarchy, he is at peace with the world until ordered to interrogate a childhood friend, a journalist with possible links to violent subversives. Then he falls in love with his friend's wife. The plot of this novel, which was written in Iraq in 1976 and published in Arabic in Germany in 1989, is further complicated by street protests in Baghdad following the Six-Day Arab-Israeli War of June 1967. Despite the grim subject matter of this novel, it is at heart a love story, lyrically narrated.

Author : Ibrāhīm Kūnī
Publisher : American Univ in Cairo Press
Page : 186 pages
File Size : 42,9 Mb
Release : 2008
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9774161432

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Gold Dust by Ibrāhīm Kūnī Pdf

Rejected by his tribe and hunted by the kin of the man he killed, Ukhayyad and his thoroughbred camel flee across the desolate Tuareg deserts of the Sahara. Between bloody wars against the Italians in the north and famine raging in the south, Ukhayyad rides for the remote rock caves of Jebel Hasawna. There, he says farewell to the mount who has been his companion through thirst, disease, lust, and loneliness. Alone in the desert, haunted by the prophetic cave paintings of ancient hunting scenes and the cries of jinn in the night, Ukhayyad awaits the arrival of his pursuers and their insatiable hunger for blood and gold. Gold Dust is a classic story of the brotherhood between man and beast, the thread of companionship that is all the difference between life and death in the desert. It is a story of the fight to endure in a world of limitless and waterless wastes, and a parable of the struggle to survive in the most dangerous landscape of all: human society.

Author : Najīb Maḥfūẓ
Publisher : American Univ in Cairo Press
Page : 228 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 2007
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9774160991

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Morning and Evening Talk by Najīb Maḥfūẓ Pdf

A late work by the Egyptian Nobel literature laureate, Morning and Evening Talk is an epic tale of Egyptian life over five generations. Set in Cairo, it traces the fortunes of three families from the arrival of Napoleon at the end of the eighteenth century to the 1980s, using short character sketches arranged in alphabetical order. This highly experimental device produces a kind of biographical dictionary, whose individual entries come together to paint a vivid portrait of life in Cairo from a range of different perspectives. The characters include representatives of every class and human type, and as the intricate family saga unfolds, a powerful picture of a society in transition--and the accompanying upheaval--emerges. This is a tale of change and continuity, of the death of a traditional way of life, of the road to independence and beyond, seen through the eyes of Egypt's citizens. Naguib Mahfouz's last chronicle of Cairo is an elegy to a bygone era and a tribute to the Egyptian spirit. It is also one of his most technically innovative contributions to the Arabic novel.

Author : Mohamed Berrada
Publisher : American University in Cairo Press
Page : 162 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2009-03-01
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781617971587

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Like a Summer Never to Be Repeated by Mohamed Berrada Pdf

Like a Summer Never to Be Repeated is a fascinating and highly experimental story based loosely around the author's own experiences in Egypt as a Moroccan student and visiting intellectual. In Cairo the narrator, Hammad, takes us on a deeply personal journey of discovery from the heady days of the 1950s and 1960s, with all the optimism and excitement surrounding Moroccan independence, Suez, and Abdel Nasser, up to the 1990s and the time of writing, revealing an individual intensely concerned with Arab life and culture. Meanwhile, his regular visits to Cairo allow us to watch a culture in transition over four decades. Exploring themes of change, the role of culture in society, memory, and writing, in a text that combines narrative fiction with literary criticism, philosophical musings, and quotation, Like a Summer Never to Be Repeated is among the most innovative works of modern Arabic literature and a testimony to Mohammed Berrada's position as a leading pioneer.

Author : Khairy Shalaby
Publisher : American Univ in Cairo Press
Page : 448 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2009-03
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9774162390

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The Lodging House by Khairy Shalaby Pdf

A young man's dreams for a better future as a student in the Teachers' Institute are shattered after he assaults one of his instructors for discriminating against him. From then on, he begins his descent into the underworld. This novel takes on epic dimensions as the narrator escorts us on a journey to this underworld.

Author : ممدوح، عالية
Publisher : American Univ in Cairo Press
Page : 300 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2006
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9774249410

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The Loved Ones by ممدوح، عالية Pdf

Friends gather at the bedside of Suhaila, who lies in a coma in a Paris hospital, and tell stories that bring her alive.

Author : Ahmed Alaidy
Publisher : American University in Cairo Press
Page : 130 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 2009-10-15
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781617970658

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Being Abbas el Abd by Ahmed Alaidy Pdf

"The millennial generation's most celebrated literary achievement." Al-Ahram Weekly "The first glimmer of hope for a true fictional renaissance an instantly rewarding read embraced by an unprecedented range of literary figures" The Daily Star "What is madness?" asks the narrator of Ahmed Alaidy's jittery, funny, and angry novel. Assuring readers that they are about to find out, the narrator takes us on a journey through the insanity of present-day Cairo in and out of minibuses, malls, and crash pads, navigating the city's pinball machine of social life with tolerable efficiency. But lurking under the rocks in his grouchy, chain-smoking, pharmaceutically-oriented, twenty-something life are characters like his elusive psychiatrist uncle with a disturbing interest in phobias. And then there's Abbas, the narrator's best friend who surfaces at critical moments to drive our hero into uncontrollably multiplying difficulties. For instance, theres the ticklish situation with the simultaneous blind-dates Abbas has set up for him on different levels of a coffee-shop in a Cairo mall with two girls both called Hind. With friends like Abbas, what paranoiac needs enemies?

Author : Laylá Abū Zayd,Leila Abouzied
Publisher : American Univ in Cairo Press
Page : 184 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2003
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9774247752

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The Last Chapter by Laylá Abū Zayd,Leila Abouzied Pdf

This thought-provoking, semi-autobiographical book tells the story of Aisha, a young Moroccan woman, and her struggle to find an identity in the Morocco of the second half of the twentieth century. Charting Aisha's path through adolescence and young adulthood up to the present, her story is told through a series of flashbacks, anecdotes, and glimpses of the past, all bound up with a strong, often strident, always compelling worldview that takes in Morocco, its politics, people, and traditions, Islam, and marriage. Male-female relationships feature strongly in the narrative, and by exposing us to Aisha's troubled romantic encounters, Abouzeid uncovers the shifting male/female roles within the Morocco of her lifetime. Many aspects of Moroccan society are also explored through the other clashes of the modern and the traditional in Aisha's life. The workplace and corruption, the struggle for women's rights, the clash between Islamic and Western values as well as with the older practices of sorcery and witchcraft, and the conflict between colonial and native language use are all intertwined in a narrative that is both forceful and often poetic. Through a series of tales of emotional disasters, the reader becomes aware not only of Aisha's frustrations but also of her deep commitment to her country and her struggle to defeat suffering, uphold justice, and retain a fierce independence as a woman and a clarity of conviction in her life. Leila Abouzeid is a pioneer among her Moroccan contemporaries in that she writes in Arabic rather than in French and is the first Moroccan woman writer of literature to be translated into English. This stimulating and revealing book adds a new perspective to Maghrebi women's writing, and is an important addition to the growing body of Arab women's writing in translation.

Author : Salim Matar
Publisher : American University in Cairo Press
Page : 126 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 2005-03-01
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781617972126

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The Woman of the Flask by Salim Matar Pdf

The Woman of the Flask is a most original novel a blend of grim realism and fantasy. Two Iraqi exiles reach Switzerland, having escaped from Saddam's Iraq. One of them, Adam, has brought with him an old flask found among the possessions of his late father who came from the Marshlands of southern Iraq. He polishes it and opens it: a fabulously beautiful nubile young woman appears. She has, it emerges, been the lover of his ancestors going back five thousand years. The novel weaves together the threads of her memories of Adam's ancestors, his day-to-day life and his work as a computer programmer, his fellow-exile, his Swiss wife, and his coping with the woman of the flask. She is not happy with immortality, and Adam and his friend confront both a European bureaucracy and an alternative world of magic and fantasy. The reader is swept along by a dizzyingly compelling narrative, unsure where the story is going but fascinated by the journey. The novel reflects the complexities of the world of today's Iraqis an unprecedented history, a grimmer recent past, but with prospects that challenge imagination.