-
Жанры
- Военное дело
- Деловая литература
- Детективы и Триллеры
- Детское
- Документальная литература
- Домоводство (Дом и семья)
- Драматургия
- Зарубежная литература
- Классика
- Книги по психологии
- Компьютеры и Интернет
- Любовные романы
- Наука, Образование
- Неотсортированное
- Поэзия
- Приключения
- Проза
- Прочее
- Религия и духовность
- Справочная литература
- Старинное
- Техника
- Фантастика
- Фольклор
- Юмор
- Серии
- Подборки
- Рецензии
- Авторы
- Читатели
-
Жанры
Назад
- Военное дело
- Деловая литература
- Детективы и Триллеры
- Детское
- Документальная литература
- Домоводство (Дом и семья)
- Драматургия
- Зарубежная литература
- Классика
- Книги по психологии
- Компьютеры и Интернет
- Любовные романы
- Наука, Образование
- Неотсортированное
- Поэзия
- Приключения
- Проза
- Прочее
- Религия и духовность
- Справочная литература
- Старинное
- Техника
- Фантастика
- Фольклор
- Юмор
- Серии
- Подборки
- Рецензии
- Авторы
- Читатели
Фильтр
Жанр:Фантастика
Ritually murdered corpses are appearing across Cincinnati, terrifying amalgams of human and other. Pulled in to help investigate by the FIB, former witch turned day-walking demon Rachel Morgan soon realizes a horrifying truth — a would-be creator is determined to make his (or her) own demons. But it can't be done without Rachel's blood.
As a bounty hunter, Rachel has battled vampires, witches, werewolves, demons, and more. But humanity itself might be her toughest challenge.
Жанр:Детское
Prentisstown isn't like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee — whose thoughts Todd can hear too, whether he wants to or not — stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden — a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee must run for their lives.
But how do you escape when your pursuers can hear your every thought?
Жанр:Фантастика
Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky. In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low. And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war. Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages-not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out. When one of the strangers-beautiful, haunted Akiva-fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?
Жанр:Проза
Книга «Саргассы в космосе», вышедшая в свет в середине 60-х, произвела настоящий фурор среди любителей приключенческой фантастики. Роман был канонизирован как классический образец «американской космической фантастики 50-х годов», стал легендой и оставался ею больше двадцати лет. И мало кому было известно, что легенду создали два неизвестных переводчика С. Бережков и С. Витин, известные всему миру как братья Стругацкие. Затем вспыхивает звезда Джона Уиндема. И снова русскую версию романа «День триффидов» создали Аркадий и Борис Стругацкие… Андрэ Нортон, Джон Уиндем, Хол Клемент – в пантеон российских классиков мировой фантастики их всех ввело волшебное перо братьев Стругацких.
Жанр:Фантастика
Once, dragons ruled the Rain Wilds, tended by privileged human servants known as Elderlings. But a series of cataclysmic eruptions nearly drove these magnificent creatures to extinction. Born weak and deformed, the last of their kind had one hope for survival: to return to their ancient city of Kelsingra. Accompanied by a disparate crew of untested young keepers, the dragons embarked on a harsh journey into the unknown along the toxic Rain Wild River. Battling starvation, a hostile climate, and treacherous enemies, dragons and humans began to forge magical connections, bonds that have wrought astonishing transformations for them all. And though Kelsingra is finally near, their odyssey has only begun.
Because of the swollen waters of the Rain Wild River, the lost city can be reached only by flight—a test of endurance and skill beyond the stunted dragons’ strength. Venturing across the swift-running river in tiny boats, the dragon scholar Alise and a handful of keepers discover a world far different from anything they have ever known or imagined. Immense, ornate structures of black stone veined with silver and lifelike stone statues line the silent, eerily empty streets. Yet what are the whispers they hear, the shadows of voices and bursts of light that flutter and are gone? And why do they feel as if eyes are watching them?
The dragons must plumb the depths of their ancestral memories to help them take flight and unlock the secrets buried in Kelsingra. But enemies driven by greed and dark desires are approaching. Time is running out, not only for the dragons but for their human keepers as well.
Жанр:Проза
Pearl Tull is nearing the end of her life but not of her memory. It was a Sunday night in 1944 when her husband left the little row house on Baltimore’s Calvert Street, abandoning Pearl to raise their three children alone: Jenny, high-spirited and determined, nurturing to strangers but distant to those she loves; the older son, Cody, a wild and incorrigible youth possessed by the lure of power and money; and sweet, clumsy Ezra, Pearl’s favorite, who never stops yearning for the perfect family that could never be his own.
Now Pearl and her three grown children have gathered together again — with anger, hope, and a beautiful, harsh, and dazzling story to tell.
The Little Prince (French: Le Petit Prince) – is an allegorical fable and the most famous work of Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
It was first published in April 1943 by publisher “Reynal & Hitchcock” in both English and French. Saint-Exupery wrote the novella while living in New York City; a city he fled to after the occupation of his native France by Nazi Germany.
The literary roots of the fable are based on the wandering plot of the rejected prince; while the emotional – on a child’s view of the world.
The story line is built around the travels of the Little Prince who hails from the tiny planet B-612. Gradually, his journey becomes not just the literal movement from planet to planet, but more of a way to discover life and the world.
Thanks to Saint-Exupery’s artistic methods, adult readers see in the fable, a transcript of a conversation of two old friends; while children get a vivid and easily understandable description of the world that surrounds them. Due mostly to these two factors, The Little Prince has achieved such high levels of recognition and popularity.
Жанр:Фантастика
#1 bestselling author Richelle Mead returns to the Otherworld, a mystic land inextricably linked to our own—and balanced precariously on one woman's desperate courage . . .
Shaman-for-hire Eugenie Markham strives to keep the mortal realm safe from trespassing entities. But as the Thorn Land's prophecy-haunted queen, there's no refuge for her and her soon-to-be-born-children when a mysterious blight begins to devastate the Otherworld. . .
The spell-driven source of the blight isn't the only challenge to Eugenie's instincts. Fairy king Dorian is sacrificing everything to help, but Eugenie can't trust the synergy drawing them back together. The uneasy truce between her and her shape shifter ex-lover Kiyo is endangered by secrets he can't—or won't—reveal. And as a formidable force rises to also threaten the human world, Eugenie must use her own cursed fate as a weapon—and risk the ultimate sacrifice. . .
Жанр:Наука, Образование
Доклад на Международном симпозиуме “Синергия: концепции - методы - перспективы”. Берлин, 29 июня - 1 июля 2011 г.
The talk presents a systematic analysis of the concept of synergy in principal spheres of its usage, both in history and contemporary academic discourse. It is found that the “territory of synergy” formed by all its meanings includes three main domains, resp., in theology (chronologically, the earliest appearance of synergy), anthropology and synergetics. Corresponding versions of synergy are described, and their mutual relations are elucidated. It is shown that of all versions, the most important role belongs to synergy in anthropology: the original theological notion of synergy can be translated to anthropology as a paradigm of man’s “ontological unlocking” and then extended to a general paradigm of human constitution that is a core of anthropology of a new type, nonclassical, nonessentialist and subjectless. What is more, we describe a program that makes it possible to develop the line of anthropological extensions of synergy even further converting synergy into the methodological principle of a new episteme for the humanities.
Analyzing the relation of this “anthropological mainstream” in the usage of synergy to synergy in synergetics, we find overlapping parts of the two domains. The general conclusion is drawn that all the territory of synergy corresponds basically to one universal paradigm with ramified structure and great heuristic resource which is not yet exhausted by far.
Жанр:Фантастика
From the humblest of beginnings a millennia ago, Lothaire the Enemy of Old rose to power, becoming the most feared and evil vampire in the immortal world. Driven by his past, he will not rest until he captures the vampire Horde's crown for himself. The discovery of his Bride, the female meant only for him, threatens to derail his plot.
Elizabeth Peirce is a mere mortal, a glaring vulnerability for a male with so many blood foes bent on annihilating anything he desires. Yet soon he discovers his Bride's secret. A magnificent power dwells inside the fragile human, one that will aid his quest. But to possess that power, he will have to destroy her. Will Lothaire succumb to the torments of his past, or seize a future with her?
Жанр:Фантастика
Spanning over twenty years, 20 masters and modern authors that have broken down the barriers of traditional horror share their most unrestrained, edgiest works in this special edition from Comet Press. Many hard to find and out of print, some that were banned, Necro Files is a collection that covers every imaginable mode of mayhem and delves into the dark side of human nature.
Cannibalism, necrophilia, aberrant sex, gore, murder, serial killers, mutilation, torture, child abductions, even werewolves and zombies are all common themes of extreme horror and in this book.
TABLE OF CONTENTS: George R.R. Martin - "Meathouse Man"Joe R. Lansdale - "Night They Missed the Horror Show"Ronald Kelly - "Diary"Elizabeth Massie - "Abed"Randy Chandler & t. Winter-Damon - "I am He that Liveth and was Dead ... & Have the Keys of Hell & Death"Edward Lee - "Xipe"Ray Garton - "Bait"Gerard Houarner - "Painfreak"Wayne Allen Sallee - "Lover Doll"Charlee Jacob - "The Spirit Wolves"Brian Hodge - "Godflesh"John Everson - "Every Last Drop"Mehitobel Wilson - "Blind in the House of the Headsman"Monica J. O'Rourke - "An Experiment in Human Nature"Graham Masterton - "The Burgers of Calais"Nancy Kilpatrick - "Ecstasy"Bentley Little - "Pop Star in the Ugly Bar"Wrath James White - "The Sooner They Learn"J.F. Gonzalez - "Addict"
Жанр:Фантастика
“Yes,” the calm, inflexible thought came. “You are right. We are the hamsters from the laboratory. The pigs carried for your experiments and tests.” There was almost a note of humor in the thought. “However, we hold nothing against you, I assure you. In fact, we have very little interest in your race, one way or another. We owe you a slight debt for helping us along our path, bringing our destiny onto us in a few short minutes instead of another fifty million years. For that we are thankful…”
Жанр:Фантастика
Now that Gemma holds the key to breaking the siren curse, the stakes have never been higher. At last, a future with those she loves—and a romance with Alex—is close enough to touch...but not if Penn has anything to say about it. Penn is more determined than ever to have Daniel for her own and to destroy Gemma and Harper along the way, and Penn always gets what she wants. Now a final explosive battle is about to begin, and the winner will take everything Gemma holds dear.
My First Book: the experiences of Walter Besant, James Payn, W. Clark Russell, Grant Allen, Hall Caine, George R. Sims, Rudyard Kipling, A. Conan Doyle, M. E. Braddon, F. W. Robinson, H. Rider Haggard, R. M. Ballantyne, I. Zangwill, Morley Roberts, David Christie Murray, Marie Corelli, Jerome K. Jerome, John Strange Winter, Bret Harte, "Q.", Robert Buchanan, Robert Louis Stevenson, with an introduction by Jerome K. Jerome and 185 illustrations.
Жанр:Проза
Tony Webster and his clique first met Adrian Finn at school. Sex-hungry and book-hungry, they would navigate the girl-less sixth form together, trading in affectations, in-jokes, rumour and wit. Maybe Adrian was a little more serious than the others, certainly more intelligent, but they all swore to stay friends for life.
Now Tony is retired. He’s had a career and a single marriage, a calm divorce. He’s certainly never tried to hurt anybody. Memory, though, is imperfect. It can always throw up surprises as a lawyer’s letter is about to prove.
The Sense of an Ending is the story of one man coming to terms with the mutable past. Laced with trademark precision, dexterity and insight, it is the work of one of the world’s most distinguished writers.
Жанр:Проза
According to Arthur Golden's absorbing first novel, the word "geisha" does not mean "prostitute," as Westerners ignorantly assume-it means "artisan" or "artist." To capture the geisha experience in the art of fiction, Golden trained as long and hard as any geisha who must master the arts of music, dance, clever conversation, crafty battle with rival beauties, and cunning seduction of wealthy patrons. After earning degrees in Japanese art and history from Harvard and Columbia-and an M.A. in English-he met a man in Tokyo who was the illegitimate offspring of a renowned businessman and a geisha. This meeting inspired Golden to spend 10 years researching every detail of geisha culture, chiefly relying on the geisha Mineko Iwasaki, who spent years charming the very rich and famous.
Based on a decade of research and on interviews with many of Mao’s close circle in China who have never talked before — and with virtually everyone outside China who had significant dealings with him — this is the most authoritative life of Mao ever written. It is full of startling revelations, exploding the myth of the Long March, and showing a completely unknown Mao: he was not driven by idealism or ideology; his intimate and intricate relationship with Stalin went back to the 1920s, ultimately bringing him to power; he welcomed Japanese occupation of much of China; and he schemed, poisoned and blackmailed to get his way. After Mao conquered China in 1949, his secret goal was to dominate the world. In chasing this dream he caused the deaths of 38 million people in the greatest famine in history. In all, well over 70 million Chinese perished under Mao’s rule — in peacetime.
Combining meticulous research with the story-telling style of , this biography offers a harrowing portrait of Mao’s ruthless accumulation of power through the exercise of terror: his first victims were the peasants, then the intellectuals and, finally, the inner circle of his own advisors. The reader enters the shadowy chambers of Mao’s court and eavesdrops on the drama in its hidden recesses. Mao’s character and the enormity of his behavior toward his wives, mistresses and children are unveiled for the first time.
This is an entirely fresh look at Mao in both content and approach. It will astonish historians and the general reader alike.
Жанр:Фантастика
Laurel hasn't seen Tamani since she begged him to let her go last year. Though her heart still aches, Laurel is confident that David was the right choice. But just as life is returning to normal, Laurel discovers that a hidden enemy lies in wait. Once again, Laurel must turn to Tamani to protect and guide her, for the danger that now threatens Avalon is one that no faerie thought would ever be possible. And for the first time, Laurel cannot be sure that her side will prevail.
Жанр:Детективы и Триллеры
Oskar and Eli. In very different ways, they were both victims. Which is why, against the odds, they became friends. And how they came to depend on one another, for life itself. Oskar is a 12 year old boy living with his mother on a dreary housing estate at the city's edge. He dreams about his absentee father, gets bullied at school, and wets himself when he's frightened. Eli is the young girl who moves in next door. She doesn't go to school and never leaves the flat by day. She is a 200 year old vampire, forever frozen in childhood, and condemned to live on a diet of fresh blood. John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel, a huge bestseller in his native Sweden, is a unique and brilliant fusion of social novel and vampire legend; and a deeply moving fable about rejection, friendship and loyalty.
Жанр:Любовные романы
Rebecca Bloomwood is now happily married to Luke Brandon, and all her problems seem to be at an end. But suddenly into her life steps… a sister, of whose existence Becky had hitherto been completely unaware. Becky is only too anxious to welcome her into the bosom of the family. But there is only one snag — she HATES shopping. She is the antithesis of the shopaholic. It all makes for some very difficult family relationships…
Жанр:Любовные романы
Rebecca Bloomwood has the dream job. She's a personal shopper, so is able to spend other people’s money all day instead of her own. And she gets paid for doing it. The perfect job, the perfect man — gorgeous Luke Brandon — and now… the perfect wedding. Yes, Luke has proposed and wedding bells are in sight. No excuses are needed to start the shopping trip of all time. And Becky’s parents are just assuming that the wedding will be at home — a marquee in the garden and Becky in her mum’s wedding dress, which she’s been saving specially for the occasion. But Luke’s mother has very different ideas — a huge affair in New York in a forest glade setting — or perhaps a Venetian Ball, or a fin de siecle extravagance? Now Becky’s getting confused. She doesn't want to say ‘no’ to anyone. The plans are going ahead, and soon it will be too late to turn back — from either wedding…
Жанр:Любовные романы
“This expensive, glossy world is where I’ve been headed all along. Limos and flowers; waxed eyebrows and designer clothes from Barneys. These are my people; this is where I'm meant to be.” — Becky Bloomwood
Universally beloved by readers, Sophie Kinsella’s national bestseller, Confessions of a Shopaholic, introduced the irrepressible one-woman shopping phenomenon, Becky Bloomwood. Now, in this hilarious follow-up, Becky and her credit cards are headed across the Atlantic….
With her shopping excesses (somewhat) in check and her career as a TV financial guru thriving, Becky’s biggest problem seems to be tearing her entrepreneur boyfriend, Luke, away from work for a romantic country weekend. And worse, figuring out how to “pack light.” But packing takes on a whole new meaning when Luke announces he's moving to New York for business — and he asks Becky to go with him!
Before you can say “Prada sample sale,” Becky has landed in the Big Apple, home of Park Avenue penthouses and luxury department stores. Surely it’s only a matter of time until she becomes an American TV celebrity, and she and Luke are the toast of Gotham society. Nothing can stand in their way, especially with Becky’s bills miles away in London.
But then an unexpected disaster threatens her career prospects, her relationship with Luke, and her available credit line! Shopaholic Takes Manhattan — but will she have to return it?
Жанр:Любовные романы
Becky’s life is blooming! She's working at London’s newest fashion store, The Look, house-hunting with husband Luke (her secret wish is a Shoe Room)… and she’s pregnant! She couldn’t be more overjoyed — especially since discovering that shopping cures morning sickness. Everything has got to be perfect for her baby: from the designer nursery… to the latest, coolest pram… to the celebrity, must-have obstetrician. But when the celebrity obstetrician turns out to be her husband Luke’s glamorous, intellectual ex-girlfriend, Becky’s perfect world starts to crumble. She’s shopping for two… but are there three in her marriage?
Жанр:Фантастика
Number Six – when John meets her in I Am Number Four she's strong, powerful, and ready to fight. But who is she? Where has she been living? How has she been training? When did she develop her legacies? And how does she know so much about the Mogadorians? In I Am Number Four: The Lost Files: Six's Legacy, discover the story behind Six. Before Paradise, Ohio, before John Smith, Six was traveling through West Texas with her Cepan, Katarina. What happened there would change Six forever . . .
Жанр:Детективы и Триллеры
Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh was looking forward to a quiet holiday at his aunt's cottage on Monksmere Head. There would be long walks, tea in front of the fire, and, best of all, no corpses. But he reckoned without the discovery of crime-writer Maurice Seton's mutilated body.
Жанр:Фантастика
Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, Scadrial is now on the verge of modernity, with railroads to supplement the canals, electric lighting in the streets and the homes of the wealthy, and the first steel-framed skyscrapers racing for the clouds.
Kelsier, Vin, Elend, Sazed, Spook, and the rest are now part of history – or religion. Yet even as science and technology are reaching new heights, the old magics of Allomancy and Feruchemy continue to play a role in this reborn world. Out in the frontier lands known as the Roughs, they are crucial tools for the brave men and women attempting to establish order and justice.
One such is Waxillium Ladrian, a rare Twinborn, who can Push on metals with his Allomancy and use Feruchemy to become lighter or heavier at will. After twenty years in the Roughs, Wax has been forced by family tragedy to return to the metropolis of Elendel. Now he must reluctantly put away his guns and assume the duties and dignity incumbent upon the head of a noble house. Or so he thinks, until he learns the hard way that the mansions and elegant tree-lined streets of the city can be even more dangerous than the dusty plains of the Roughs.
Жанр:Фантастика
A growing Empire…
The end of the Sowir Dominion draws near as the Empire resumes its offensive. The retaking of Guxcacal home-world begins, as the Empire’s fleets invade the remaining Sowir territory. But the Sowir still have surprises up their sleeves.
Adrian Farkas awakens new abilities, buried deep inside the human genetic code by their ancestor Axull Darr. And with them the Empire gains all the knowledge contained inside the device left by their ancestor, the sum knowledge of the People, the first intelligent race in the universe and the ancestors of Humanity and the Nel. Adrian struggles to learn how to use his new abilities, even as he commands the invasion against the Sowir. But Sowir are not the only thing that threatens the Empire, new dangers lurk just outside of its now growing territory. And the Empire will need everything it has in order to survive.
Жанр:Детективы и Триллеры
Set in the secluded world of cloistered abbeys, long-lost secrets and angelic humans, Angelology has all the makings of a blockbuster hit, combining elements of The Da Vinci Code and Kate Mosse's Labyrinth
Sister Evangeline was just a young girl when her father left her at St. Rose Convent under the care of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. Now a young woman, she has unexpectedly discovered a collection of letters dating back sixty years – letters that bring her deep into a closely guarded secret, to an ancient conflict between the millennium-old Society of Angelologists and the monstrously beautiful Nephilim, the descendants of angels and humans. Rich and mesmerizing, Angelology blends biblical lore, mythology and the fall of the Rebel Angels, creating a luminous, riveting tale of one young woman caught in a battle that will determine the fate of the world.
Жанр:Проза
Meet Macon Leary—a travel writer who hates both travel and strangeness. Grounded by loneliness, comfort, and a somewhat odd domestic life, Macon is about to embark on a surprising new adventure, arriving in the form of a fuzzy-haired dog obedience trainer who promises to turn his life around.
Жанр:Фантастика
Johannes Cabal, necromancer of some little infamy, returns in this riotously clever and terrifically twisted tale of murder and international intrigue.
In this genre-twisting novel, infamous necromancer Johannes Cabal, after beating the Devil and being reunited with his soul, leads us on another raucous journey in a little-known corner of the world. This time he's on the run from the local government.
Stealing the identity of a minor bureaucrat, Cabal takes passage on the , a passenger aeroship that is leaving the country. The deception seems perfect, and Cabal looks forward to a quiet trip and a clean escape, until he comes face-to-face with Leonie Barrow, an enemy from the old days who could blow his cover. But when a fellow passenger throws himself to his death, or at least that is how it appears, Cabal begins to investigate out of curiosity. His minor efforts result in a vicious attempt on his own life — and then the gloves come off.
Cabal and Leonie — the only woman to ever match wits with him — reluctantly team up to discover the murderer. Before they are done, there will be more narrow escapes, involving sword fighting and newfangled flying machines. There will be massive destruction, not to mention resurrected dead.
Steampunk meets the classic Sherlockian mystery in this rip-roaring adventure where anything could happen… and does.
Жанр:Фантастика
A charmingly gothic, fiendishly funny Faustian tale about a brilliant scientist who makes a deal with the Devil, twice.
Johannes Cabal sold his soul years ago in order to learn the laws of necromancy. Now he wants it back. Amused and slightly bored, Satan proposes a little wager: Johannes has to persuade one hundred people to sign over their souls or he will be damned forever. This time for real. Accepting the bargain, Jonathan is given one calendar year and a traveling carnival to complete his task. With little time to waste, Johannes raises a motley crew from the dead and enlists his brother, Horst, a charismatic vampire to help him run his nefarious road show, resulting in mayhem at every turn.
Жанр:Проза
He tells the story first—Frederick Clegg, an obscure little clerk and a collector of butterflies who one day goes on to net his finest specimen, Miss Miranda Grey, a soft, lovely twenty-year-old.
In his colorless yet curiously expressive words, he tells of the months in which he stood by the office window and watched for the beautiful Miranda whenever she was home from art school. Then Frederick Clegg suddenly wins a fortune in a football pool and devises an ingenious way to make his dream come true:
I thought, I can’t get to know her in the ordinary way, but if she’s with me, she’ll see my good points, she’ll understand. There was always the idea she would understand. I only wanted to do the best for her, make her happy and love me a bit.
He buys a secluded country house and, when all preparations have been made, kidnaps Miranda from outside her apartment in London.
The body of the novel concerns the two months during which Miranda is held prisoner in the cellar of the house. The story is revealed first as he tells it, then as she secretly records it in a diary which begins:
It’s the seventh night.
Deep down I get more and more frightened. It’s only surface calm.
Waking up is the worse thing. I wake and for a moment I think I’m home or at Caroline’s. Then it hits me.
I don’t care what he does. So long as I live.
It’s all the vile unspeakable things he could do.
Power. It’s so real.
Try try try to escape.
It’s all I can think of.
A remarkable feat of imagination, “The Collector” is a novel of disquieting perception whose cumulative effect is all too memorable.
Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.
At a time when America is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness and applied imagination. He knew that the best way to create value in the twenty-first century was to connect creativity with technology. He built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering.
Although Jobs cooperated with this book, he asked for no control over what was written nor even the right to read it before it was published. He put nothing offlimits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. And Jobs speaks candidly, sometimes brutally so, about the people he worked with and competed against. His friends, foes, and colleagues provide an unvarnished view of the passions, perfectionism, obsessions, artistry, devilry, and compulsion for control that shaped his approach to business and the innovative products that resulted.
Driven by demons, Jobs could drive those around him to fury and despair. But his personality and products were interrelated, just as Apple’s hardware and software tended to be, as if part of an integrated system. His tale is instructive and cautionary, filled with lessons about innovation, character, leadership, and values.
