Beach the alchemy wars Lenk and his companions have

Lenk and his companions have come to the city that serves as the world's beating heart

and friendliest elephant can't cure Princess Antonia's boredom

homing in on the complex playing-out of Elvis' relationship with his Machiavellian manager

things can't always go as planned

Fifty years ago

Beach the alchemy wars Lenk and his companions haveJ. D. Salinger's "A Perfect Day for Bananafish," John Cheever's "Goodbye, My Brother," Doris Lessing's "Through the Tunnel": These and dozens of other beloved stories share the beach as their setting. In fact, it is remarkable how many of the finest writers have set stories and novels in whole or in part at the beach and how often they use this locale to explore the great themes of love, loss, death, family, and redemption. Beach brings together, for