Showing results by author "Walter Tevis" in All Categories

Eight-year-old orphan Beth Harmon is quiet, sullen, and by all appearances unremarkable. That is, until she plays her first game of chess. Her senses grow sharper, her thinking clearer, and for the first time in her life she feels herself fully in control. By the age of 16, she's competing for the US Open championship. But as Beth hones her skills on the professional circuit, the stakes get higher, her isolation grows more frightening, and the thought of escape becomes all the more tempting.

Walter Tevis is widely regarded as a master for both his gritty poolhall novels and his brilliant rendering of the world of competitive chess. This long overdue collection establishes Tevis's rightful place as a maestro of the short form, as well. Bringing together the 1981 short story collection Far From Home with a host of other previously unpublished stories from journals and magazines, this entertaining collection showcases Tevis's characteristic perceptiveness, empathy, and range.

Twenty years after he conquered the underground pool circuit in The Hustler, "Fast" Eddie Felson is playing exhibition matches with former rival Minnesota Fats in shopping malls. With one failed marriage and years of running a pool hall behind him, Eddie is now ready to regain the skills needed to compete in a world of pool that has changed dramatically since he left.

Thomas Newton is an extraterrestrial, one of only 300 left on his home planet. Using his superior intelligence and skills, Newton amasses a small fortune and a business empire, but soon must battle unexpected foes: the CIA, alcoholism, loneliness, himself. An utterly absorbing psychological study of one man's struggle to survive on 20th-century Earth.

To Fast Eddie Felsen, a young pool hustler, there was only one thing that mattered: to make the big time and the big money in the world of pool by beating the best in the country. Hustling suckers in small towns for good stake money was practice for his goal, and when he felt ready he went to Bennington's pool hall in Chicago to find Minnesota Fats. Eddie and Fats pit nerve against skill in a fantastic match over an unbroken 36 hours.

In a world where the human population has suffered devastating losses, a handful of survivors cling to what passes for life in a postapocalyptic, dying landscape. A world where humans wander, drugged and lulled by electronic bliss. A dying world of no children and no art, where reading is forbidden.

Desde su primera publicación en 1983, esta novela se convirtió en un libro de culto para ajedrecistas en particular y amantes de la gran novela americana en general. Un secreto que de repente explotó a finales de 2020 con el estreno de la serie basada en esta historia, conquistando en tiempo récord al mundo entero. Beth Harmon, la protagonista, es ya un icono en la mente de los millones de fans de Gambito de dama: huérfana, solitaria, politoxicómana, competitiva, frágil, genial. Una Mozart del ajedrez cuya inteligencia le brinda tantos éxitos como problemas.

Esta novela, adictiva, trepidante, y con una tensión que no decae en cada partida, en cada viaje, en cada momento de abandono de la protagonista, que siempre oscila entre el éxito y el abismo, se quedará en el corazón de los oyentes. Y les servirá además como introducción al mundo del ajedrez, que, como Beth Harmon, parece tranquilo y accesible, pero contiene debajo todo un volcán de pasiones y peligros.

Thomas Newton aterriza en Kentucky escapando de su planeta, Anthea, que ha sido devastado por las guerras nucleares y cuyos habitantes son el doble de inteligentes que los humanos. Adopta una apariencia humanoide y se pone manos a la obra para traer a sus compañeros alienígenas y salvarlos de la extinción. Pero su trabajo y la avanzada tecnología antheana que utiliza llaman la atención de Nathan Bryce, profesor de química que no tarda en presumir que Newton esconde algo bajo la superficie.

Depois de perder a mãe aos 8 anos de idade, Elizabeth Harmon é mandada para o orfanato. Calada e retraída, ela lida com a triste realidade tomando os tranquilizantes que a instituição fornece às crianças para mantê-las dóceis. Até que o carrancudo zelador do lugar começa a lhe dar aulas de xadrez, oferecendo a chance de que ela precisava para sair de seu estado de letargia. Pensando e imaginando as jogadas, Beth sente que finalmente está no controle, e logo fica evidente que tem um talento natural para o jogo.

Thomas Jerome Newton is an extraterrestrial from the planet Anthea, which has been devastated by a series of nuclear wars and whose inhabitants are twice as intelligent as human beings. When he lands on Earth—in Kentucky, disguised as a human—it's with the intention of saving his own people from extinction. Newton patents some very advanced Anthean technology, which he uses to amass a fortune. He begins to build a spaceship to help the last 300 Antheans migrate to Earth.

Le roman qui a inspiré la série évènement sur Netflix. Kentucky, 1957. Après la mort de sa mère, Beth Harmon, neuf ans, est placée dans un orphelinat où l'on donne aux enfants de mystérieuses "vitamines" censées les apaiser. Elle y fait la connaissance d'un vieux gardien passionné d'échecs qui lui en apprend les règles. Beth commence alors à gagner, trop vite, trop facilement. Dans son lit, la nuit, la jeune fille rejoue les parties en regardant le plafond où les pièces se bousculent à un rythme effréné.

Mit acht entdeckt Beth Harmon im Waisenhaus zwei Möglichkeiten, der harten Realität zu entfliehen: die grünen Beruhigungspillen, die den Kindern täglich verabreicht werden. Und Schach. Das Mädchen ist ein Ausnahmetalent und gewinnt Turnier um Turnier, mit 16 spielt sie gegen lauter erwachsene Männer um die US-Meisterschaft. Ihr Weg führt steil nach oben, doch bei jedem Schritt droht der Abgrund von Sucht und Selbstzerstörung. Denn für Beth steht viel mehr auf dem Spiel als Sieg und Niederlage.

This is an essential collection from the author of The Man Who Fell to Earth, The Hustler and The Colour of Money.

La réédition d'un classique d'une actualité saisissante. "Pas de questions, détends-toi." C'est le nouveau mot d'ordre des humains, obsédés par leur confort et leur tranquillité d'esprit, déchargés de tout travail par les robots. Livres, films et sentiments sont interdits depuis des générations. Hommes et femmes se laissent vivre en ingurgitant les tranquillisants fournis par le gouvernement. Jusqu'au jour où un homme solitaire, Paul, apprend à lire grâce à un vieil enregistrement.

In a time when America's power has been eroded by energy depletion and world control has been virtually given over to the Chinese, only one man has the courage to seek new mineral resources among the stars. He is Ben Belson, one of the richest men in the world, a man haunted by the memory of a loveless childhood and driven by needs and desires he can barely understand or control. His dream is to find the means to help America break the stranglehold of the corrupt interests who are keeping it a second-class power.

Walter Tevis is widely regarded as a master for both his gritty poolhall novels and his brilliant rendering of the world of competitive chess. This long-overdue collection establishes Tevis's rightful place as a maestro of the short form, as well. Including previously unpublished stories from journals and magazines, this entertaining collection showcases Tevis's characteristic perceptiveness, empathy, and range.

"Spottefuglens" verden er en fremtid, hvor mennesket frivilligt har afgivet sin frihed til maskiner og robotter, og hvor selvtilfredsstillelse har erstattet almindeligt menneskeligt samkvem, kærlighed og venskab. Det er en stagnerende, døende verden uden børn, uden kunst, uden udvikling. "Spottefuglen" handler om to mennesker, Paul og Mary Lou, som møder hinanden, forelsker sig og sammen begynder at opdage og udforske en tidligere tids tabte værdier og glemte følelser.

Thomas Jerome Newton ist ein geheimnisvoller Mann. Wie aus dem Nichts taucht der seltsame Fremde in Kentucky auf und scheint eine Mission zu haben. Mit neuartigen Technologien verdient er in kurzer Zeit Millionen und zieht dabei viel Misstrauen auf sich – aber auch das Interesse des Wissenschaftlers Nathan Bryce und der jungen Betty Jo. Während sie schnell Gefühle für Newton entwickelt, fragt sich Nathan, ob hinter dem Unbekannten mehr steckt, als auf Anhieb zu erkennen ist.

Eddie Felson est une énigme. On rapporte des parties de billard extraordinaires, un joueur au talent incroyable. Seulement, personne ne l'a jamais vu tirer. Le bruit court qu'il veut s'attaquer à Chicago, mais ses faits d'armes sont remis en question par Grand John, vétéran de l'académie Bennington.