Ridgway Public Library

Small town doctor I.B. "Berl" Pickett makes an ill-advised decision to try to cover up an old friend's suicide attempt which leads to dire consequences when she later dies from her injuries. He loses his clinic privileges and faces a possible criminal negligence charge. With plenty of time on his hands, Berl goes back to his former profession of house painter and contemplates his past.

Presents Burton Raffel's translation of "Don Quijote," the story of an idealistic country gentleman who sets out like the knights of old to search for adventure and right wrongs, and includes additional writings that provide a modern account of the novel's influence, and a selection of fifteen critical assessments.

"That skinny Indian teenager has that mysterious something that comes along once a generation. He is one of those rare chefs who is simply born. He is an artist." And so begins the rise of Hassan Haji, the unlikely gourmand who recounts his life's journey in this novel. Lively and brimming with the colors, flavors, and scents of the kitchen, it is a succulent treat about family, nationality, and the mysteries of good taste. Born above his grandfather's...

The loves and laughs of two professional rodeo artists, Cody and Lick. It seems that on the rodeo circuit loving a woman can be even more dangerous than riding a bull. On a bull you might suffer a broken collar bone, but a gal can easily take you to the cleaners. Or how about having your private parts stabbed with porcupine quills?

Candide is about a man who believes in the philosophy that: "what happens, happens for the best in the end." that was taught to him by his personal philosopher Dr. Panlosss. Candide goes through many, many trials and everyone he meets has had something terrible happen to them. He searches the world over for his love Cundgonde. And in the end finds that the simplest things in life: love, friends, and health are all that matters.

The history of a woman born poor, orphaned early, and who eventually rose to a position of unique influence.

Thirteen-year-old Mary Lou grows up considerably during the summer while learning about romance, homesickness, death, and her cousin's search for his biological father.

From his prison cell, Jasper Dean tells the unlikely story of his scheming father Martin, his crazy Uncle Terry and how the three of them upset - mostly unintentionally - an entire continent.

Reminiscent of another debut Ken Kesey's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest this powerful first novel by short story writer Udall (Letting Loose the Hounds) is constructed around grotesque set pieces; black humor drives the plot. Set in the late '60s, Udall's story begins when seven-year-old Edgar Mint, the half-Apache, half-white narrator, is run over by the mailman's car, his head crushed. Abandoned by his grandmother and alcoholic mother after his...

Determined to collect a seventy dollar debt from an old friend in the Marines, Norwood Pratt travels to New York, meeting eccentric characters along the way.