A â near-masterpieceâ about faith and doubt by the award-winning, international bestselling author (The New York Times).

In Rome, surrendering to secular pressures, the Fourth Vatican Council is stirring a revolution with their official denial of the churchâ s core doctrines. Theyâ ve abolished clerical dress and private confession; the Eucharist is recognized only as an outdated symbol; and theyâ re merging with the tenets of Buddhism. Theyâ re also unsettled by the blind faith of devout pilgrims from around the world congregating on a remote island monastery in Irelandâ the last spot on earth where Catholic traditions are defiantly alive. At the behest of the Vatican, Father James Kinsella has been dispatched to Muck Abbey with an ultimatum: Adhere to the new church or suffer the consequences.

But in Abbot Tomás Oâ Malley, Kinsella finds less an adversary than a man of bewildering contradictionsâ unyieldingly bound to his vows, yet long-questioning his devotion to God. Now, between Kinsella and Oâ Malley comes an unexpected challenge that will reveal their truths, their purpose, their faith, and their doubt.

â Told with . . . superb grace and wit,â Catholics was adapted by Brian Moore for the 1973 film starring Martin Sheen and Trevor Howard (The New Yorker).

This World Fantasy Award winner in the vein of Animal Farm delves into a lab worthy of a mad Nazi scientistâ but run by a brilliantly sadistic rodent.

In the annals of American literature, there has never been a character quite like Doctor Rat, PhD. From one of the most indispensable storytellers in speculative fiction, this biting satire introduces a narrator of learned charm and humor, and a twisted logic that is absolutely chilling.

Doctor Rat is a credit to his species. A survivor of the most refined scientific experiments, now removed from the maze, he has become a valued and productive member of the academic community. When he must administer a lethal dose, he comforts his fellow rats with his compassionate slogan: â Death is freedom.â

But everything changes when animals worldwide begin to rebel, refusing to accept their proper places in the natural order of things: as test subjects, pets, or food. And only Doctor Rat has the courage to defend mankind from the ungrateful animal kingdom.

Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as â dazzlingly originalâ and â occasionally quite beautiful,â Doctor Rat is a sly and stylish indictment of fanaticism in mice and men.

â A truly imaginative impresario . . . [Doctor Rat] teases your conscience with educated wit and versatile improvisation, not to mention the casual flick of the tail about to be cut off.â â Kirkus Reviews

From skinny scholar to muscle-bound showman. â Easily the best memoir ever written about weight training, steroids and allâ (Menâ s Journal).

When blue-blooded, storklike Samuel Wilson Fussell arrived in New York City fresh from the University of Oxford, the ethereal young graduate seemed like the last person on Earth who would be interested in bodybuilding. But he was intimidated by the dangers of the cityâ and decided to do something about it. At twenty-six, Fussell walked into the YMCA gym. Four solid years of intensive training, protein powders, and steroid injections later, he had gained eighty pounds of pure muscle and was competing for bodybuilding titles.

And yet, with forearms like bowling pins and calves like watermelons, Fussell felt weaker than ever before. His punishing regimen of workouts, drugs, and diet had reduced him to near-infant-like helplessness and immobility, leaving him hungry, nauseated, and prone to outbursts of â â roid rage.â But he had come to succeed, and there was no backing down now.

Alternately funny and fascinating, Muscle is the true story of one manâ s obsession with the pursuit of perfection. With insight, wit, and refreshing candor, Fussell ushers readers into the wild world of juicers and gym rats who sacrifice their lives, minds, bodies, and souls to their dreams of glory in Southern Californiaâ s so-called iron mecca.