Will Ferguson è un acclamato scrittore di viaggi e romanziere il cui lavoro è caratterizzato da un acuto umorismo e da una tagliente osservazione. La sua scrittura esplora spesso la collisione di culture e la ricerca dell'identità in terre straniere e in patria. Ferguson fonde magistralmente elementi autobiografici con narrazioni di finzione, creando storie avvincenti e profondamente umane. La sua capacità di trovare l'assurdo nella vita quotidiana e l'essenza dei viaggi umani lo rende una voce distintiva nella letteratura contemporanea.
Miranda Abbott takes center stage in this hilarious mystery that channels the spirit of a dramatic movie-of-the-week. Co-authored by bestselling writers, the story promises a blend of humor and intrigue as Miranda navigates a series of comedic twists and turns. Expect an entertaining ride filled with unexpected developments and engaging characters that will keep readers laughing and guessing until the very end.
A once-beloved television sleuth finds herself far from Hollywood and witnesses a murder during a small-town theatre production, convinced it’s up to her to solve the case. Miranda Abbott, known for her crime-solving role as a karate-chopping church pastor, faces ruin after being turned down for a cable reality show. A mysterious postcard summons her to Happy Rock, a small Pacific Northwest town, but nothing is as expected. In dire straits, she joins an amateur production at the Happy Rock Little Theatre, vying for the lead against the local real estate agent. On opening night, one actor is murdered live in front of the audience, yet no one saw what happened. Everyone becomes a suspect, including the sardonic town doctor, a high-school drama teacher, an oil-stained mechanic, an elderly gentleman with possible CIA ties, and Miranda herself. To unravel the mystery, Miranda must tap into her skills as television’s Pastor Fran and enlist the help of her new sidekick, Susan, a shy bookstore clerk who seems to know everyone’s secrets. With the show must go on, the duo embarks on a comedic journey to uncover the truth.
Exploring themes of loss and recovery, this novel weaves a captivating narrative about the people and objects that vanish and reappear in our lives. It combines an epic literary journey with elements of suspense, delving into the lengths one might go to reclaim what has been lost. The story invites readers to reflect on the significance of what we leave behind and the dark allure of deceit intertwined with the quest for redemption.
Thomas Rosanoff, a dedicated medical student and researcher, navigates the challenges of academia while uncovering the complexities of the human mind. As he delves into groundbreaking studies, he grapples with ethical dilemmas and the pressures of his ambitious career. The narrative explores themes of ambition, morality, and the pursuit of knowledge, highlighting the personal sacrifices and triumphs that come with a life devoted to medicine and research.
From internationally bestselling travel writer Will Ferguson, author of Happiness™ and Spanish Fly, comes a novel both epic in its sweep and intimate in its portrayal of human endurance. A car tumbles through darkness down a snowy ravine. A woman without a name walks out of a dust storm in sub-Saharan Africa. And in the seething heat of Lagos City, a criminal cartel scours the Internet, looking for victims. Lives intersect. Worlds collide. And it all begins with a single email: “Dear Sir, I am the daughter of a Nigerian diplomat, and I need your help…” Will Ferguson takes readers deep into the labyrinth of lies that is “419,” the world’s most insidious Internet scam. When Laura Curtis, a lonely editor in a cold northern city, discovers that her father has died because of one such swindle, she sets out to track down—and corner—her father’s killer. It is a dangerous game she’s playing, however, and the stakes are higher than she can ever imagine. Woven into Laura’s journey is a mysterious woman from the African Sahel with scars etched into her skin and a young man who finds himself caught up in a web of violence and deceit. And running through it, a dying father’s final words: “You, I love.”
First published in 1997, this hilarious book launched satirist Will Ferguson's career. Challenging the notion that Canadians are "nice," the book asks, "Do we as Canadians deserve a country so great?" Tackling subjects from Canada's favorite inbred royals to the mighty beaver as national icon, from sex in a canoe to all-Canadian "superhero" Captain Canuck, Ferguson rampages across the cultural landscape. The book also provides a fast-paced, opinionated overview of telling moments in Canadian history, including its run-amok Mounties and "fun-loving days" of the country's (unacknowledged) slave trade.
It had never been done before. Not in 4000 years of Japanese recorded history had anyone followed the Cherry Blossom Front from one end of the country to the other. Nor had anyone hitchhiked the length of Japan. But, heady on sakura and sake, Will Ferguson bet he could do both. The resulting travelogue is one of the funniest and most illuminating books ever written about Japan. And, as Ferguson learns, it illustrates that to travel is better than to arrive.
Being Canadian can be a chore, says Will Ferguson, but it can be a lot of fun, too. For this follow-up to his runaway bestseller Why I Hate Canadians, Ferguson, a Canuck himself, recruited his brother Ian to create this ultimate guide to the country's cultural quirks, from diet and sex to sports and politics. The result is a nonstop comic ride through such topics as "Canadian Cuisine—and How to Avoid It," "Regional Harmony (Who to Hate and Why)," and "How to Make Love Like a Canadian."
"The Age of Nice is at hand, and there's nothing we can do about it." But the protagonist of Will Ferguson's Happiness, terminally luckless book editor Edwin de Valu, does want to do something. In fact, he feels obliged to put a stop to the Age of Nice, because it's all his fault. Desperate to save a flagging career in the world of self-help publishing, Edwin has staked everything on a dubious, thousand-page manuscript bearing the motto "Live! Love! Learn!" Promising its readers endless wealth, effortless weight loss, and everlasting happiness, the book has become a runaway success. And that's where Edwin's problems really begin. There's the murderous cartel of drug and tobacco barons who want Edwin's head on a plate, as well as the fact that misery, cynicism, irrational hatred, draught beer--all the things that once made Edwin's life as an underdog bearable--have become outlawed. It's down to one man to save the globe from the tyranny of the group hug! But can Edwin do it before the world economy melts down and a bestselling serial killer called Dr. Ethics enacts his own deadly revenge? It has been said--possibly by the sort of homily-peddling guru that Ferguson attacks so masterfully in his debut novel--that there are many routes to happiness. The general effect of reading this razor-sharp satire on the self-help industry is to understand that these routes lead us nowhere, except perhaps to a cul-de-sac called Hell. This would be depressing to realize, except that Happiness clubs its readers into submission with the sort of zany, almost otherworldly wit that makes us profoundly glad to be alive. --Matthew Baylis, Amazon.co.uk