LITMIR.BIZ

Mark Twain's inimitable blend of humor, satire and masterly storytelling earned him a secure place in the front rank of American writers. This collection of eight stories and sketches, among them the celebrated classic «The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,» shows the great humorist at the top of his form.Also included here are «Journalism in Tennessee,» in which a novice newspaperman is shown the «correct way» to report a news story; «About Barbers,» a delightful account of every barbershop customer's worst fear; «Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offences,» Twain's hilarious savaging of that author's style, and four more: «A Literary Nightmare,» «The Stolen White Elephant,» «The Private History of a Campaign that Failed» and «How to Tell a Story.»Delightfully entertaining, these charming pieces will find an appreciative audience among students, general readers and lovers of classic American humor.

Подробнее

Accused of political subversion as a young man, Fyodor Dostoyevsky was sentenced to four years of hard labor at a Siberian prison camp — a horrifying experience from which he developed this astounding semi-autobiographical memoir of a man condemned to ten years of servitude for murdering his wife.As with a number of the author's other works, this profoundly influential novel brilliantly explores his characters' thoughts while probing the depths of the human soul. Describing in relentless detail the physical and mental suffering of the convicts, Dostoyevsky's character never loses faith in human qualities and the goodness of man.A haunting and remarkable work filled with wonder and resignation, The House of the Dead ranks among the Russian novelist's greatest masterpieces. Of this powerful autobiographical novel, Tolstoy wrote, «I know no better book in all modern literature.»

Подробнее

A bestseller when it was originally published nearly a century ago, Wharton's first literary success was set amid the previously unexplored territory of fashionable, turn-of-the-century New York society, an area with which she was intimately familiar.The tragic love story reveals the destructive effects of wealth and social hypocrisy on Lily Bart, a ravishing beauty. Impoverished but well-born, Lily realizes a secure future depends on her acquiring a wealthy husband. Her downfall begins with a romantic indiscretion, intensifies with an accumulation of gambling debts, and climaxes in a maelstrom of social disasters.More a tale of social exclusion than of failed love, The House of Mirth reveals Wharton's compelling gifts as a storyteller and her clear-eyed observations of the savagery beneath the well-bred surface of high society. As with The Age of Innocence and Ethan Frome, this novel was also made into a successful motion picture.

Подробнее

Regarded as the preeminent prose satirist in the English language, Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) intended this masterpiece, as he once wrote Alexander Pope, to «vex the world rather than divert it.» Savagely ironic, it portrays man as foolish at best, and at worst, not much more than an ape.The direct and unadorned narrative describes four remarkable journies of ship's surgeon Lemuel Gulliver, among them, one to the land of Lilliput, where six-inch-high inhabitants bicker over trivialities; and another to Brobdingnag, a land where giants reduce man to insignificance.Written with disarming simplicity and careful attention to detail, this classic is diverse in its appeal: for children, it remains an enchanting fantasy. For adults, it is a witty parody of political life in Swift's time and a scathing send-up of manners and morals in 18th-century England.

Подробнее

"Even on the printed page these speeches retain their power." — The Gay & Lesbian ReviewThis comprehensive anthology traces the rhetoric of the gay rights movement from the late nineteenth century to the present. It chronicles the progression from its deeply clandestine beginnings to the battle for recognition, through political struggles and victories of the mid-twentieth century to its current position — at the forefront of the mainstream political debate concerning the fight for marriage equality. The speeches include Robert G. Ingersoll's «Address at the Funeral of Walt Whitman»; Harvey Milk's «Hope Speech»; «Civil Liberties: A Progress Report» by Franklin Kameny; Harry Hay's «Unity and More in '84»; and Urvashi Vaid's «Speech at the March on Washington.» Suitable for courses on contemporary politics and social issues, this edition is the only available compilation of speeches on gay rights.

Подробнее

With Idylls of the King, one of the giants of Victorian literature turned his considerable talents to the chivalric lore surrounding a larger-than-life British ruler, King Arthur. Alfred, Lord Tennyson, cast his interpretation of Arthurian myth into the form of an epic poem, and his tales of Camelot soar to remarkable imaginative heights to trace the birth of a king; the founding, fellowship, and decline of the Round Table; and the king's inevitable departure. Encompassing romance, heroism, duty, and conflict, Tennyson's poetry charts the rise and fall of a legendary society."The Coming of Arthur" chronicles the victorious battle with which the king also wins Guinevere's hand; «Gareth and Lynette,» «The Marriage of Geraint,» and «Geraint and Enid» likewise concern tests and triumphs of love, virtue, and valor. The tragic tale of two brothers, «Balin and Balan,» is followed by «Merlin and Vivien,» recounting the wizard's betrayal at the hands of a femme fatale. «Lancelot and Elaine,» a classic story of unrequited love, leads up to the grand climax, «The Holy Grail,» followed by «The Last Tournament» and «The Passing of Arthur.»Generations of readers — both poetry lovers and devotees of myth and legend — have exulted in these stories «About the founding of a Round Table / That was to be, for love of God and man / And noble deeds, the flower of all the world.»

Подробнее

Embracing a wide variety of subjects, this choice collection of 13 short stories represents the work of an elite group of American women writing in the 19th and earthly 20th centuries. The earliest stories are Rebecca Harding Davis' naturalistic «Life in the Iron Mills» (published in 1861 and predating Émile Zola's Germinal by almost 25 years) and Louisa May Alcott's semiautobiographical tale «Transcendental Wild Oats» (1873). The most recent ones are Zora Neale Hurston's «Sweat,» an ironic tale of a failed marriage, published in 1926, and «Sanctuary» (1930), Nella Larsen's gripping and controversial tale of contested loyalty.In between is a grand cavalcade of superbly crafted fiction by Sarah Orne Jewett, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Kate Chopin, Willa Cather, Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Djuna Barnes, Susan Glaspell and Edith Wharton. Brief biographies of each of the writers are included.

Подробнее

This anthology comprises some of history's most hateful public addresses, consisting of speeches invoking racism, genocide, anti-Semitism, terrorism, and other extreme views. Selections range from an oration by Robespierre during the Reign of Terror that followed the French Revolution to Osama bin Laden's threats related to the terrorist actions of 9/11.Additional speeches include Andrew Jackson's Seventh Annual Message to Congress in 1835, promoting the Indian Removal Act; Jefferson Davis' 1861 announcement of Southern secession; and Joseph R. McCarthy's «Wheeling» speech of 1950, in which the senator claimed knowledge of Communist loyalists within the U. S. government. Other speakers include Hitler, Mussolini, Mao Tse-Tung, and Stalin. Each speech features a brief introduction that places it in historical context.

Подробнее

This witty, influential work by one of the greatest scholars of the Renaissance satirizes the shortcomings of the upper classes and religious institutions of the time. The most effective of all Erasmus's writings — ripe with allusions, vignettes, and caricatures — the literary gem was not only an extremely intelligent and articulate response to pretentiousness of all sorts, it also proved to be spiritual dynamite, leaving monastic brothers and clergymen the objects of universal laughter.The book's purported narrator, the goddess Folly, proclaims herself to be the daughter of Youth and Wealth, nursed by Drunkenness and Ignorance. She is accompanied by such followers as Self-love, Pleasure, Flattery, and Sound Sleep.A clever mix of drollery and fantasy, fast-paced and lighthearted in tone, the work has proved to be a lively and valuable commentary on modern times. It remains, according to the great Dutch historian John Huizinga, «a masterpiece of humour and wise irony … something that no one else could have given to the world.»

Подробнее

At Baskerville Hall on the grim moors of Devonshire, a legendary curse has apparently claimed one more victim. Sir Charles Baskerville has been found dead. There are no signs of violence, but his face is hideously distorted with terror. Years earlier, a hound-like beast with blazing eyes and dripping jaws was reported to have torn out the throat of Hugo Baskerville. Has the spectral destroyer struck again? More important, is Sir Henry Baskerville, younger heir to the estate, now in danger?Enter Sherlock Holmes, summoned to protect Sir Henry from the fate that has threatened the Baskerville family. As Holmes and Watson begin to investigate, a blood-chilling howl from the fog-shrouded edges of the great Grimpen Mire signals that the legendary hound of the Baskervilles is poised for yet another murderous attack.The Hound of the Baskervilles first appeared as a serial in The Strand Magazine in 1901. By the time of its publication in book form eight months later, this brilliantly plotted, richly atmospheric detective story had already achieved the status of a classic. It has often been called the best detective story ever written. It remains a thrilling tale of suspense, must reading for every lover of detective fiction.

Подробнее