Mikhail Seroff, a New York psychiatrist with a deeper respect and passion for Beethoven than for his profession, still devotes his life to his patients. When guilt and anger towards his deceased wife, Maria, tortures him he finds relief in playing the Beethoven sonatas. Peter, son of Maria and adopted by Michail as a small baby, is now in his early twenties. He is a student at the Manhattan School of Music where he has studied since the age of six. He is somewhat of a musical whiz, albeit reckless and unruly. Michail and Peter tolerate each other but spend little time together. Nina Danilova, young, pretty and musically talented arrives from Moscow with her older sister, who plans to get a teaching job in order to support Nina's musical education. At the onset the sisters can only find work as waitresses in New York. Subsequently, Nina's sister is mysteriously and brutally murdered. Left all alone in a new country, Nina sinks into a deep depression. Miss Providence appears and Nina is led to Dr. Seroff in his Manhattan office. Interested in her musical talents and beautiful voice, he decides to help her. He takes her into his home at Morningside Heights and with Peter's help arranges a scholarship for her at the Manhattan School. Nina falls in love with Mikhail and he is tempted to love her, but fears of being unprofessional keeps him aloof in spite of his strong feelings for her. He also worries about their age difference and that he might lose out to a younger man. In the meantime Nina falls prey to Peter's charm, is seduced and finds herself pregnant. Peter, on his was to study at the Sorbonne in Paris, tells her to have an abortion or marry his father. Nina sinks into another depression and is again rescued by Mikhail, who marries her in spite of knowing that she is pregnant. In spite of knowing that Michail hates a lie, Nina tells him a story about a boyfriend who ran away. She lives in constant fear of Peter's return, not trusting his promise of secrecy. When he does return three years later, he decides that he loves Nina and tries to snatch her away from Mikhail. A love-hate triangle develops, which one day explodes and creates far-reaching, heart-breaking percussion. Nina and the baby disappears and Mikhail can think of nothing but finding her. Almost a year later he does find her. All is forgiven, and they build a new life together. Mikhail fathers a baby girl whom he adores, yet he still struggles with feelings of jealousy and the shadow of Peter. When Peter returns to the New York scene, he is proud of having fathered a son and more in love with Nina than before. As they struggle to overcome their guilt, jealousy and desire, the three characters become more tightly bound. Only forgiveness can erase past transgressions.

“A free-wheeling vehicle . . . an unforgettable ride!”—The New York Times Cat’s Cradle is Kurt Vonnegut’s satirical commentary on modern man and his madness. An apocalyptic tale of this planet’s ultimate fate, it features a midget as the protagonist, a complete, original theology created by a calypso singer, and a vision of the future that is at once blackly fatalistic and hilariously funny. A book that left an indelible mark on an entire generation of readers, Cat’s Cradle is one of the twentieth century’s most important works—and Vonnegut at his very best. “[Vonnegut is] an unimitative and inimitable social satirist.”—Harper’s Magazine “Our finest black-humorist . . . We laugh in self-defense.”—Atlantic Monthly

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "Odd John" by Olaf Stapledon. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

Named a Best Book of 2021 by NPR This inspirational memoir serves as a call to action from prison reform activist Yusef Salaam, of the Exonerated Five, that will inspire us all to turn our stories into tools for change in the pursuit of racial justice. They didn't know who they had. So begins Yusef Salaam telling his story. No one's life is the sum of the worst things that happened to them, and during Yusef Salaam's seven years of wrongful incarceration as one of the Central Park Five, he grew from child to man, and gained a spiritual perspective on life. Yusef learned that we're all "born on purpose, with a purpose." Despite having confronted the racist heart of America while being "run over by the spiked wheels of injustice," Yusef channeled his energy and pain into something positive, not just for himself but for other marginalized people and communities. Better Not Bitter is the first time that one of the now Exonerated Five is telling his individual story, in his own words. Yusef writes his narrative: growing up Black in central Harlem in the '80s, being raised by a strong, fierce mother and grandmother, his years of incarceration, his reentry, and exoneration. Yusef connects these stories to lessons and principles he learned that gave him the power to survive through the worst of life's experiences. He inspires readers to accept their own path, to understand their own sense of purpose. With his intimate personal insights, Yusef unpacks the systems built and designed for profit and the oppression of Black and Brown people. He inspires readers to channel their fury into action, and through the spiritual, to turn that anger and trauma into a constructive force that lives alongside accountability and mobilizes change. This memoir is an inspiring story that grew out of one of the gravest miscarriages of justice, one that not only speaks to a moment in time or the rage-filled present, but reflects a 400-year history of a nation's inability to be held accountable for its sins. Yusef Salaam's message is vital for our times, a motivating resource for enacting change. Better, Not Bitter has the power to soothe, inspire and transform. It is a galvanizing call to action.

“An intriguing, thorough study of a little-known scientific expedition to the Dead Sea by a mid-19th-century U.S. Navy lieutenant” (Kirkus Reviews). With customary depth and insight, David Haward Bain illumines the United States’s nineteenth-century exploration of the Holy Land. To lead the expedition, the navy tabbed William Francis Lynch, an officer eager to enter the esteemed yet dangerous field of Victorian exploration. Like many of his successful contemporaries, Lynch was well read and possessed an independent nature, but a man who also preferred organization to chaos, and with a character that tended toward the obsessive. The expedition would force a juxtaposition of the ancient world with the modern, as the world’s newest power attempted an exhaustive scientific study of the waters of the cradle of civilization. Beyond its fascinating topic, Bitter Waters is full of broad allusions from the period that demonstrate Bain’s deep understanding of America, and serve to make the work appealing for general scholars and lay readers. Heroically engaging unfamiliar terrain, hostile Bedouins, and ancient mysteries, Lynch and his party epitomize their nation’s spirit of Manifest Destiny in the days before the Civil War. “An engrossing narrative of the expedition that richly positions the mission’s incidents within Lynch’s Western perspective on the Near East. Wonderfully realized, Bain’s account will enthrall seekers of history off the beaten path.” —Booklist (starred review) “David Haward Bain, author of Empire Express, paints a vivid picture of the ambitious, visionary seafarers and their bold adventure . . . Bitter Waters captures this fascinating moment in American history.” —History Book Club (official selection)