A Guardian Best Graphic Book of 2015 Iris (or balletgirl-42 as she's known on the internet dating circuit) is a zookeeper looking for love when she is diagnosed with breast cancer. Overnight, her life becomes populated with a carnival of daunting hospital characters. Despite the attempts of her friends – Maud, Granma Suggs, Larry the Monkey and a group of singing penguins – to comfort her, Iris's fears begin to encircle her until all she has to cling to is the attention of a lighthouse keeper called sailor_buoy_39. The Inflatable Woman combines magic realism with the grit of everyday life to create a poignant and surreal journey inside the human psyche.

This innovative study analyses the presence of Ovid in contemporary women's writing through a series of insightful case studies of prominent female authors, from Ali Smith, Marina Warner, and Marie Darrieussecq, to Alice Oswald, Saviana Stãnescu, and Yoko Tawada. Using Ovid in their engagements with a wide range of issues besetting our twenty-first century world - homelessness, refugees, the financial crisis, internet porn, anorexia, body image - these writers echo the poet's preoccupation in his own work with fleeting fame, shape-shifting, and the dangers of immediate gratification, and make evident that these concerns are not only quintessentially modern, but also peculiarly Ovidian. Moving beyond the concern of second-wave feminism with recovering silenced female voices and establishing a female perspective within canonical works, the volume places particular emphasis on the intersections between Ovid's imaginative universe and the political and aesthetic agenda of third-wave feminism. Focusing on its subjects' socially and politically charged re-shapings, re-imaginings, and receptions of Ovid, it not only demonstrates the extraordinary plasticity of his writing, but also of its myriad re-castings and re-contextualizations within contemporary culture (in terms of genre alone, the works discussed included translations, poetry, plays, novels, short stories, and memoirs). In so doing, it not only offers us a valuable perspective on the work of the selected female authors and a new and vital landmark in the history of Ovidian reception, but also reveals to us an Ovid who remains our contemporary and an enduring source of inspiration.

A compelling, diverse, and often bizarre array of anecdotes that will help you navigate your business and personal lives in this most peculiar of worlds. What do the knees of a deputy president, a flatulent rescue dog, a model with big nipples, and a purple mullet have in common? They all taught the author valuable life lessons! Hustling, Happiness, and a Blow-Up Doll Named Percy tells moving personal stories from Dale Hefer's life. From her award-winning marketing career to her journey to sobriety, Dale provides key life lessons and essential business tips for new and seasoned professionals – and anyone looking for a fresh and positive start. Using humorous stories of her real-life experiences – for example, why everyone needs a blow-up doll named 'Percy' – Dale demonstrates how to navigate this strange world so that you, too, can find your own brand of happiness.

The hilarious and refreshingly honest memoir that tracks the highs and lows of the star of The Celebrity Apprentice and Australia's Next Top Model.

On the day of the wedding, Lin Su Ye had died a tragic death.In his second life, he actually found out that his fiancé from his previous life wasn't the man from that night at the hotel.As she abused the dregs, she tried to find out the true identity of the man.However, she didn't expect that the movie emperor, whom she had a crush on in her previous life, would actually come to entangle her. He loved her, he spoiled her, he forced her to be his lover.Lin Su Ye was confused. Qin Yin laughed, "I have no ill intentions towards you."However, the appearance of her fiance in her previous life forced her into a corner.Lin Su Ye's face turned pale with fright. Qin Yin said, "Let's try.""Try... "Try what?""What else can you try but love?"

Trying to make your girlfriend jealous with a life-sized rubber doll might be a bad idea. A reformed hacker-turned-slacker, twenty-something Rollo Hemphill fantasizes about becoming a top-forty DJ. Unfortunately, he has more talent than ambition. He's settled for a menial job as a car jockey at "The Wuthering Palms," a luxury hotel in Beverly Hills. Proximity to all that glitz and glamour soon stirs his attraction to Felicia Ferrulo, the Sicilian hottie who works in the hotel beauty shop. When Felicia doesn't give him a nod, much less a chance, Rollo devises a desperate plan. It involves dressing up a life-sized doll to look like one of the hotel's reclusive megastar residents and conspicuously driving the fake woman around town in borrowed vehicles. Inspiring jealousy is his goal, but it quickly gets waaaaaaay out of hand. Rollo's clever scheme backfires with stunning success, causing him to fall upward with dizzying speed - as he rockets toward the stars but away from the girl of his dreams. Rollo's fumbling attempts to undo his tangled web is, by turns, pathetic and hysterically funny. My Inflatable Friend is a witty, cautionary tale about the perils of pretending to be someone you're not - and the hazards of stroking every male's most private and vulnerable part - his swelling ego! - "Fast, funny, and sufficiently out there to be banned in Pasadena. Check with your doctor before reading." - Peter Lefcourt, author of The Woody and The Manhattan Beach Project "While the entire story is built on the most unbelievable and unrealistic of scenarios, this book is not intended to aim for an award in journalism. What it is, however, is an entrée into the land of the ridiculous, and I just couldn’t stop laughing. An extremely humorous, excruciatingly funny account of one poor soul as he attempts to win the heart of his beloved (whom he has never even gotten a first date with!). Hold onto your stomach because you’ll be laughing so hard you won’t be able to catch your breath!" - The International Review of Books "Gentlemen, this is a book for every one of us that has had a glorious, highly sexual relationship, albeit imaginary, with the most beautiful woman in the world. Unbelievably funny, unexpected, and very challenging for our boy Rollo. An entertaining read... recommended for those who like a good laugh." - Dan Whitman, Allbooks Review "Straddles the line between outright drawing-room silliness and romantic comedy... You may root for the charmingly dense Rollo." – Kirkus "Should be read aloud before large groups for maximum effect. Do not invite your wife or girlfriend." - Marvin J. Wolf, co-writer, Ladies' Night, USA Networks "Being single and on the make is tough enough when you've had some experience, even if it ended badly. But seeing poor Rollo go splat, it hurts so well when I laugh!" - Tom Blake, syndicated columnist, "Single Again," Orange County Register