Best of
Fiction

1959

Hawaii


James A. Michener - 1959
    Michener brings Hawaii’s epic history vividly to life in a classic saga that has captivated readers since its initial publication in 1959. As the volcanic Hawaiian Islands sprout from the ocean floor, the land remains untouched for centuries—until, little more than a thousand years ago, Polynesian seafarers make the perilous journey across the Pacific, flourishing in this tropical paradise according to their ancient traditions. Then, in the early nineteenth century, American missionaries arrive, bringing with them a new creed and a new way of life. Based on exhaustive research and told in Michener’s immersive prose, Hawaii is the story of disparate peoples struggling to keep their identity, live in harmony, and, ultimately, join together.

Flowers for Algernon


Daniel Keyes - 1959
    In diary entries, Charlie tells how a brain operation increases his IQ and changes his life. As the experimental procedure takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment seems to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance until Algernon begins his sudden, unexpected deterioration. Will the same happen to Charlie?

To Sir, With Love


E.R. Braithwaite - 1959
    Mr. Braithwaite, the new teacher, had first to fight the class bully. Then he taught defiant, hard-bitten delinquents to call him "Sir," and to address the girls who had grown up beside them in the gutter as "Miss".He taught them to wash their faces and to read Shakespeare. When he took all forty-six to museums and to the opera, riots were predicted. But instead of a catastrophe, a miracle happened. A dedicated teacher had turned hate into love, teenage rebelliousness into self-respect, contempt into into consideration for others. A man's own integrity - his concern and love for others - had won through. The modern classic about a dedicated teacher in a tough London school who slowly and painfully breaks down the barriers of racial prejudice, this is the story of a man's integrity winning through against the odds.

പാത്തുമ്മായുടെ ആട് | Pathummayude Aadu


Vaikom Muhammad Basheer - 1959
    It has a long foreword by the novelist himself and a longer afterword by P K Balakrishnan. This special edition also has illustrations by Sherif and photographs of the real characters including Pathumma and goats.

Snopes


William Faulkner - 1959
    The Hamlet, the first book of the series chronicling the advent and rise of the grasping Snopes family in mythical Yoknapatawpha County, is a work that Cleanth Brooks called "one of the richest novels in the Faulkner canon." It recounts how the wily, cunning Flem Snopes dominates the rural community of Frenchman's Bend - and claims the voluptuous Eula Varner as his bride. The Town, the second novel, records Flem's ruthless struggle to take over the county seat of Jefferson, Mississippi. Finally, The Mansion tells of Mink Snopes, whose archaic sense of honor brings about the downfall of his cousin Flem. "For all his concerns with the South, Faulkner was actually seeking out the nature of man," noted Ralph Ellison. "Thus we must turn to him for that continuity of moral purpose which made for the greatness of our classics."

The Sirens of Titan


Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - 1959
    The richest, most depraved man on Earth, Malachi Constant, is offered a chance to take a space journey to distant worlds with a beautiful woman at his side. Of course there's a catch to the invitation—and a prophetic vision about the purpose of human life that only Vonnegut has the courage to tell.

A Medicine for Melancholy and Other Stories


Ray Bradbury - 1959
    Contents: 1 • In a Season of Calm Weather • (1957) • short story by Ray Bradbury 7 • A Medicine for Melancholy • (1959) • short story by Ray Bradbury 16 • The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit • non-genre • (1958) • short story by Ray Bradbury 39 • Fever Dream • (1948) • short story by Ray Bradbury 46 • The Marriage Mender • (1954) • short story by Ray Bradbury 51 • The Town Where No One Got Off • (1958) • short story by Ray Bradbury 59 • A Scent of Sarsaparilla • (1953) • short story by Ray Bradbury 66 • The Headpiece • (1958) • short story by Ray Bradbury 74 • The First Night of Lent • [The Irish Stories] • (1956) • short story by Ray Bradbury 81 • The Time of Going Away • (1956) • short story by Ray Bradbury 88 • All Summer in a Day • (1954) • short story by Ray Bradbury 94 • The Gift • (1952) • short story by Ray Bradbury 97 • The Great Collision of Monday Last • [The Irish Stories] • (1958) • short story by Ray Bradbury 104 • The Little Mice • (1955) • short story by Ray Bradbury 109 • The Shore Line at Sunset • (1959) • short story by Ray Bradbury (variant of The Shoreline at Sunset) 118 • The Day It Rained Forever • (1957) • short story by Ray Bradbury 129 • Chrysalis • (1946) • short story by Ray Bradbury 150 • Pillar of Fire • (1948) • novelette by Ray Bradbury 188 • Zero Hour • (1947) • short story by Ray Bradbury 198 • The Man • (1949) • short story by Ray Bradbury 210 • Time in Thy Flight • (1953) • short story by Ray Bradbury 215 • The Pedestrian • (1951) • short story by Ray Bradbury 220 • Hail and Farewell • (1953) • short story by Ray Bradbury 228 • Invisible Boy • (1945) • short story by Ray Bradbury 237 • Come Into My Cellar • (1962) • short story by Ray Bradbury (variant of Boys! Raise Giant Mushrooms in Your Cellar!) 254 • The Million-Year Picnic • [The Martian Chronicles] • (1946) • short story by Ray Bradbury (variant of The Million Year Picnic) 264 • The Screaming Woman • [Green Town] • (1951) • short story by Ray Bradbury 278 • The Smile • (1952) • short story by Ray Bradbury 284 • Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed • (1949) • short story by Ray Bradbury 299 • The Trolley • [Dandelion Wine] • (1955) • short story by Ray Bradbury 303 • Icarus Montgolfier Wright • (1956) • short story by Ray Bradbury

Collected Stories (Everyman's Library)


Raymond Chandler - 1959
    These stories are where Chandler honed his art and developed his uniquely vivid underworld, peopled with good cops and bad cops, informers and extortionists, lethally predatory blondes and redheads, and crime, sex, gambling, and alcohol in abundance. In addition to his classic hard-boiled stories–in which his signature atmosphere of depravity and violence swirls around the cool, intuitive loners whose type culminated in the famous detective Philip Marlowe–Chandler also turned his hand to fantasy and even a gothic romance.This rich treasury of twenty-five stories shows Chandler developing the terse, laconic, understated style that would serve him so well in his later masterpieces, and immerses the reader in the richly realized fictional universe that has become an enduring part of our literary landscape.

The Last of the Just


André Schwarz-Bart - 1959
    As legend has it, God blessed the only survivor of this medieval pogrom, Rabbi Yom Tov Levy, as one of the Lamed-Vov, the thirty-six Just Men of Jewish tradition, a blessing which extended to one Levy of each succeeding generation. This terrifying and remarkable legacy is traced over eight centuries, from the Spanish Inquisition, to expulsions from England, France, Portugal, Germany, and Russia, and to the small Polish village of Zemyock, where the Levys settle for two centuries in relative peace. It is in the twentieth century that Ernie Levy emerges, The Last of the Just, in 1920s Germany, as Hitler’s sinister star is on the rise and the agonies of Auschwitz loom on the horizon. This classic work, long unavailable in a trade edition, is one of those few novels that, once read, is never forgotten.

Nine Tomorrows


Isaac Asimov - 1959
    Nine stories: Profession; The Feeling of Power; The Dying Night; I'm in Marsport without Hilda; The Gentle Vultures; All the Troubles of the World; Spell my Name with an S; The Last Question (one of Asimov's most often requested stories); and The Ugly Little Boy (Asimov's own personal favorite).

Psycho


Robert Bloch - 1959
    Exhausted, lost, and at the end of her rope, she was eager for a hot shower and a bed for the night. Her room was musty but clean and the plumbing worked. Norman Bates, the manager, seemed nice, if a little odd.

The Hustler


Walter Tevis - 1959
    The book quickly won a respected readership and later an audience for the movie with the same name starring Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason. The Hustler is about the victories and losses of one "Fast" Eddie Felson, a poolroom hustler who travels from town to town conning strangers into thinking they could beat him at the game when in fact, he is a skillful player who has never lost a game. Until he meets his match in Minnesota Fats, the true king of the poolroom, causing his life to change drastically. This is a classic tale of a man's struggle with his soul and his self-esteem.

Chronicle of the Murdered House


Lúcio Cardoso - 1959
    This family’s downfall, peppered by stories of decadence, adultery, incest, and madness, is related through a variety of narrative devices, including letters, diaries, memoirs, statements, confessions, and accounts penned by the various characters.Lúcio Cardoso (1912–1968) turned away from the social realism fashionable in 1930s Brazil and opened the doors of Brazilian literature to introspective works such as those of Clarice Lispector—his greatest follower and admirer.Margaret Jull Costa has translated dozens of works from both Spanish and Portuguese, including books by Javier Marías and José Saramago. Her translations have received numerous awards, including the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. In 2014 she was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.Robin Patterson was mentored by Margaret Jull Costa, and has translated Our Musseque by José Luandino Vieira.

The Town House


Norah Lofts - 1959
    He resents the feudal system that undermines him. When circumstances change, he begins a new life as a free man, builds the house and founds a family. From the perspectives of five characters who live in the house, Lofts evokes fourteenth- and fifteenth-century life with the storytelling ability that has made her so popular.

The Unknown Ajax


Georgette Heyer - 1959
    Irascible Lord Darracott rules his barony with a firm hand. The tragic accident that killed his eldest son by drowning has done nothing to improve his temper. For now, he must send for the next heir apparent--the unknown offspring of the uncle whom the family is never permitted to mention. He also summons his bickering descendants to the rundown family estate. Yet none of that beleaguered family are prepared for the arrival of the weaver's brat and heir apparent...

The Manchurian Candidate


Richard Condon - 1959
    Raymond Shaw is a hero of the first order. He's an ex-prisoner of war who saved the life of his entire outfit, a winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor, the stepson of an influential senator...and the perfect assassin. Brainwashed during his time as a P.O.W., he is a "sleeper" -- a living weapon to be triggered by a secret signal. He will act without question, no matter what order he is made to carry out. To stop Shaw and those who now control him, his former commanding officer, Bennett Marco, must uncover the truth behind a twisted conspiracy of torture, betrayal, and power that will lead him to the highest levels of the government -- and into the darkest recesses of his own mind....

Under the North Star


Väinö Linna - 1959
    It gives a voice to hitherto silent actors on the stage of history as it offers a comprehensive account of the social and economic realities reflected in the hopes, dreams, and experiences of Jussi and Alma Koskela and their children in the rural village of Pentti's Corners in south central Finland.

Advise and Consent


Allen Drury - 1959
    It begins with Senate confirmation hearings for a liberal Secretary of State and concludes two weeks later, after debate and controversy have exploded this issue into a major crisis."I can recall no other novel in which there is so well presented a president's dilemma when his awful responsibility for the nation's interest conflicts with a personal code of good morals." (The New York Times)

Alas, Babylon


Pat Frank - 1959
    When the unthinkable nightmare of nuclear holocaust ravaged the United States, it was instant death for tens of millions of people; for survivors, it was a nightmare of hunger, sickness, and brutality. Overnight, a thousand years of civilization were stripped away.But for one small Florida town, miraculously spared against all the odds, the struggle was only just beginning, as the isolated survivors—men and women of all ages and races—found the courage to come together and confront the harrowing darkness.This classic apocalyptic novel by Pat Frank, first published in 1959 at the height of the Cold War, includes an introduction by award-winning science fiction writer and scientist David Brin.

Thrush Green


Miss Read - 1959
    This volume introduces Thrush Green, the neighboring village to Fairacre: its blackthorn bushes, thatch-roofed cottages, enchanting landscape, and jumble sales. Readers will delight in a new cast of characters and also welcome familiar faces as they become immersed in the village's turn of events on one pivotal day -- May Day. Before the day is over, life and love and perhaps eternity will touch the immemorial peace of the village.

Celia Garth


Gwen Bristow - 1959
    She had blond hair and brown eyes and a sassy face, and she worked in a fashionable dressmaking shop.Things did happen to Celia, but not as she had planned. The king's army captured Charleston. The ravisher Tarleton swept through the Carolina countryside in a wave of blood and fire and debauchery. Caught up in the ruin were Celia and her friends -- the merry-minded Darren; Jimmy, whose love for Celia brought her into his tragedy; the fascinating Vivian, five times married; Godfrey, rich and powerful, who met disaster because he could control anything in town but the weather; the daredevil Luke.Most people thought the Revolution was lost. Many Americans, like Celia's handsome cousin Roy, joined the king's side. Then out of the swamps appeared Francis Marion.Marion was a little man. Marion was also crippled. But as Luke said of him, "When that man's leading a charge, he looks nine feet tall."In the dressmaking shop, Celia became a spy for Marion. She sewed, she smiled sweetly, and in secret she risked her life sending information to this man that the king's whole army could not catch, the mighty little man to whom Tarleton angrily gave the name 'Swamp Fox'.(from the front end flap)

My Side of the Mountain


Jean Craighead George - 1959
    Young Sam Gribley gets to the end of the block and keeps going--all the way to the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York. There he sets up house in a huge hollowed-out tree, with a falcon and a weasel for companions and his wits as his tool for survival. In a spellbinding, touching, funny account, Sam learns to live off the land, and grows up a little in the process. Blizzards, hunters, loneliness, and fear all battle to drive Sam back to city life. But his desire for freedom, independence, and adventure is stronger. No reader will be immune to the compulsion to go right out and start whittling fishhooks and befriending raccoons. Jean Craighead George, author of more than 80 children's books, including the Newbery Medal-winning Julie of the Wolves, created another prizewinner with My Side of the Mountain--a Newbery Honor Book, an ALA Notable Book, and a Hans Christian Andersen Award Honor Book. Astonishingly, she wrote its sequel, On the Far Side of the Mountain, 30 years later, and a decade after that penned the final book in the trilogy, Frightful's Mountain, told from the falcon's point of view. George has no doubt shaped generations of young readers with her outdoor adventures of the mind and spirit. (Ages 9 to 12) --Emilie Coulter

Kiss Kiss


Roald Dahl - 1959
    William and Mary was later adapted for Roald's American television series 'Way Out and several of the stories appeared in British television adaptations for the series Tales of the Unexpected in the 1980s. Also included here is The Champion of the World - the first time Roald wrote about the man who would go on to become Danny's dad in Danny the Champion of the World.The stories featured in Kiss Kiss are: The LandladyWilliam and MaryThe Way up to HeavenParson's PleasureMrs Bixby and the Colonel's CoatRoyal JellyGeorgy PorgyGenesis and CatastropheEdward the ConquerorPigThe Champion of the World--roalddahl.com

Rape of the Fair Country


Alexander Cordell - 1959
    It is an enthralling story which has now been turned into both play and musical and is regarded as the finest of this popular author’s many novels.

The Pink Motel


Carol Ryrie Brink - 1959
    First of all, it's pink. Not just regular pink, but pink, pink, PINK!Then there's the roster of regular guests: an artist from Greenwich Village, a magician from The World, and a carpenter form Nobody Knows.It's the perfect combination for adventure - from mysterious messages to alligator hunting, dognapping, and Great-Granduncle Hiram's rumored secret treasure. The action at the Pink Motel never stops!

All You Zombies


Robert A. Heinlein - 1959
    It further develops themes explored by the author in a previous work, "By His Bootstraps", published some 18 years earlier.

The Rescuers


Margery Sharp - 1959
    The task of this benevolent society is to befriend human prisoners in their cells, and perform daring rescue bids. As this story opens, the Chairwoman of the Society is proposing the rescue of a Norwegian poet who is being held in grim conditions in the Black Castle.

Stand Still Like the Hummingbird


Henry Miller - 1959
    Many of them have appeared only in foreign magazines while others were printed in small limited editions which have gone out of print. Miller's genius for comedy is at its best in "Money and How It Gets That Way" -- a tongue-in-cheek parody of "economics" provoked by a postcard from Ezra Pound which asked if he "ever thought about money." His deep concern for the role of the artist in society appears in "An Open Letter to All and Sundry," and in "The Angel is My Watermark" he writes of his own passionate love affair with painting. "The Immorality of Morality" is an eloquent discussion of censorship. Some of the stories, such as "First Love," are autobiographical, and there are portraits of friends, such as "Patchen: Man of Anger and Light," and essays on other writers such as Walt Whitman, Thoreau, Sherwood Anderson and Ionesco.Taken together, these highly readable pieces reflect the incredible vitality and variety of interests of the writer who extended the frontiers of modern literature with Tropic of Cancer and other great books.

Brown Girl, Brownstones


Paule Marshall - 1959
    Remarkable for its courage, its color, and its natural control. --The New Yorker An unforgettable novel written with pride and anger, with rebellion and tears. --New York Herald Tribune Set in Brooklyn during the Great Depression and World War II, Brown Girl, Brownstones chronicles the efforts of Barbadian immigrants to surmount poverty and racism and to make their new country home. Selina Boyce is torn between the opposing aspirations of her parents: her hardworking, ambitious mother longs to buy a brownstone row house while her easygoing father prefers to dream of effortless success and his native island's lushness. Featuring a new foreword by Edwidge Danticat, this coming-of-age tale grapples with identity, sexuality, and changing values in a new country, as a young woman must reconcile tradition with potential and change.

Mrs. Bridge


Evan S. Connell - 1959
    Bridge, an inspired novel set in the years around World War II that testified to the sapping ennui of an unexamined suburban life. India Bridge, the title character, has three children and a meticulous workaholic husband. She defends her dainty, untouched guest towels from son Douglas, who has the gall to dry his hands on one, and earnestly attempts to control her daughters with pronouncements such as "Now see here, young lady ... in the morning one doesn't wear earrings that dangle." Though her life is increasingly filled with leisure and plenty, she can't shuffle off vague feelings of dissatisfaction, confusion, and futility. Evan S. Connell, who also wrote the twinned novel Mr. Bridge, builds a world with tiny brushstrokes and short, telling vignettes.

Seek the Fair Land


Walter Macken - 1959
     Set amidst the Cromwellian Invasions, "Seek the Fair Wind" begins in 1641. Dominick McMahon, a merchant by trade, has little appetite for fighting, yet is forced to defend his town against Cromwell's army. From dark city streets to wild mountains, from vicious slaughter to triumphant faith, from selfish obedience to heroic opposition - this novel paints a vivid portrait of the struggles of the Irish people against the English. Along with "The Silent People" and "The Scorching Wind," " Seek the Fair Land" is a fascinating examination of the history and events that fueled the fight for freedom in Ireland.

Return of the Condor Heroes: Maiden in White


Jin Yong - 1959
    The novel is the second part of the Condor Trilogy (The Legend of the Condor Heroes, The Return of the Condor Heroes, and The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber). Historially set at the end the Song Dynasty and at the beginning of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, the story revolves around Yang Guo and his lover Xiaolongnü in their adventure in the Wulin fraternity, which does not approve of their taboo love between master and apprentice. Original Chinese title is "Shen Diao Xia Lü". Alternate English titles are "The Giant Eagle and Its Companion", and "Divine Eagle, Chivalric Companion". Presented here is book 1 of 5.The protagonist, Yang Guo, is the orphaned son of the antagonist, Yang Kang, of the first novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes. He is raised briefly by the couple Guo Jing and Huang Rong before being sent to the Quanzhen Sect for better guidance in moral values and orthodox martial arts. At Quanzhen, Yang is often picked on and bullied by his fellow students and his teacher Zhao Zhijing is biased against him. Yang flees and ventures unknowingly into the nearby Tomb of the Living Dead, where the Ancient Tomb Sect is housed. He is saved by Xiaolongnü, a mysterious maiden of unknown origin, and becomes her disciple. They live together in the tomb for many years until Yang grows up. By then, Yang sees Xiaolongnü more than merely his highly-respected teacher, as he has gradually developed romantic feelings for her.However, their love is forbidden by societal laws in the Chinese Confucianist society of that time. Throughout the story, their love meets with several tests, such as the misunderstandings that threaten to tear them apart and the encounter with Gongsun Zhi. Finally, after their reunion and marriage, Xiaolongnü leaves Yang again, owing to her belief she cannot recover from a fatal poison, and promises to meet him again sixteen years later. While Yang is wandering the land alone, he meets several formidable pugilists and a giant Condor. His adventures gradually mould him into a courageous pugilist, whose prowess matches the Five Greats of his age. Yang serves his nation by helping the Han Chinese of Song defeat the Mongol invaders. At the end of the novel, he is finally reunited with Xiaolongnü and they are recognized as heroes.

The Final Diagnosis


Arthur Hailey - 1959
    A look at the workings of a modern day hospital through the lens of the pathologists department.

The Nonexistent Knight & The Cloven Viscount


Italo Calvino - 1959
    “Bravura pieces... executed with brilliance and brio”(Chicago Tribune). Translated by Archibald Colquhoun. A Helen and Kurt Wolff BookOriginally published as two distinct volumes: 'Il visconte dimezzato' (1952) and 'Il cavaliere inesistente' (1959). Also published in a single volume with 'The baron in the trees' (Il barone rampante, 1957) as 'Our Ancestors' (I nostri antenati, 1960).

Cities of the Interior


Anaïs Nin - 1959
    Haunting and hypnotic, these five novels by Anaïs Nin began in 1946 to appear in quiet succession. Though published separately over the next fifteen years, the five were conceived as a continuous experience—a continuous novel like Proust's, real and flowing as a river. The full impact of Anaïs Nin's genius is only to be found through reading the novels in context and in succession. They form a rich, luminous tapestry whose overall theme Nin has called “woman at war with herself.” Characters, symbols appear and reappear: now one, now another unfolding, gradually revealing, changing, struggling, growing, and Nin had forged an evocative language all her own for the telling.“The diary taught me that there were no neat ends to novels, no neat denouement, no neat synthesis,” she explains. “So I began an endless novel, a novel in which the climaxes consisted of discoveries in awareness, each step in awareness becoming a stage in the growth like the layers in trees.”Cities of the Interior fulfills a long–time desire on the part of readers, publisher, and Anaïs Nin herself to reunite the five novels in a single volume.

The Pink Dress


Anne Alexander - 1959
    But the dream of romance with popular Dave Young soon turns into a nightmare of juvenile delinquency when Dave, resentful of his stepmother and her pregnancy, becomes rebellious, involving Sue in thrill stealing, blatantly ignoring the authority of his parents and parents in general. David's rebellion becomes Sue's crisis as with love and sympathy she leads him toward a normal acceptance of family life.

The Haunted Looking Glass


Edward Gorey - 1959
    It includes stories by Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, M. R. James, W. W. Jacobs, and L. P. Hartley, among other masters of the fine art of making the flesh creep, all accompanied by Gorey's inimitable illustrations.ALGERNON BLACKWOOD, "The Empty House"W.F. HARVEY, "August Heat"CHARLES DICKENS, "The Signalman"L.P. HARTLEY, "A Visitor from Down Under"R.H. MALDEN, "The Thirteenth Tree"ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON, "The Body-Snatcher"E. NESBIT, "Man-Size in Marble"BRAM STOKER, "The Judge's House"TOM HOOD, "The Shadow of a Shade"W.W. JACOBS, "The Monkey's Paw,"WILKIE COLLINS, "The Dream Woman"M.R. JAMES, "Casting the Runes"

The Strange One


Fred Bodsworth - 1959
    This is the love story of a Scottish naturalist and a Indian girl in the Canadian wilderness; their destinies are linked with that of the strange barnacle goose from the Hebrides.

Radigan


Louis L'Amour - 1959
    Foley wants him off Vache Creek immediately, and with three thousand head of cattle, an outfit of hardcase gunfighters, and winter coming on, she is unwilling to take no for an answer.But Radigan has worked four hard years building up his ranch. Fighting for it–and, if he has to, killing for it–is something he is more than willing to do. If Angelina Foley and her men think he is the kind of man to give up without a fight, they are dead wrong.

The Secret of the Kingdom


Mika Waltari - 1959
    Marcus Mezentius Manilianus, a learned and wealthy Roman, is travelling in the Orient and arrives in Jerusalem on the day of the crucifixion of Jesus. This marks the departure point on a quest with many questions: Who was this king that died on the cross? What is the secret of his kingdom?

Starship Troopers


Robert A. Heinlein - 1959
    We just call it “The Bug War." Everything up to then and still later were "incidents," "patrols," or "police actions." However, you are just as dead if you buy the farm in an "incident" as you are if you buy it in a declared war...In one of Robert A. Heinlein’s most controversial bestsellers, a recruit of the future goes through the toughest boot camp in the Universe—and into battle with the Terran Mobile Infantry against mankind’s most alarming enemy.

A Present for the Princess


Jane Lowe Paschall - 1959
    Children's book about a blind boy and a young princess.

River of Fire: Aag Ka Darya


Qurratulain Hyder - 1959
    An amazing, sui generis book, River of Fire spans two and a half millennia. Set during four Indian epochs (the classical, the medieval, the colonial, and the modern post-national), the novel is a meditation on history and human nature, tracing four souls through time. Each section is linked by characters who bear, in every period, the same names: Gautam, Champa, Kamal, and Cyril. Gautam (appearing first as a student of mysticism at the Forest University of Shravasti in the 4th century B.C.E.) and Champa (throughout embodying the enigmatic experience of Indian women) begin and end the novel; Muslim Kamal appears mid-way through, as the Muslims did, and loses himself in the Indian landscape; and Cyril, the Englishman, appears later still. In different eras, different relations from among the four -- romance and war, possession and dispossession. Yet together the characters reflect the oneness of human nature: amidst the nationalist and religious upheavals of Indian history, Hyder argues for a culture that is inclusive.Interweaving parables, legends, dreams, diaries, and letters, Hyder's prose is lyrical and witty. There is really no book like River of Fire. Qurratulain Hyder was awarded the Bharatiya Gnanpith, India's highest literary award, in 1989, and here is her masterpiece, her broadest canvas and her finest art.

The Little Disturbances of Man


Grace Paley - 1959
    Whether writing about sexy little girls, loving and bickering couples, angry suburbanites, frustrated job-seekers, or Jewish children performing a Christmas play, she captures the loneliness, poignancy, and humor of human experience with matchless style.

The Gormenghast Novels


Mervyn Peake - 1959
    At the center of it all is the seventy-seventh Earl, Titus Groan, who stands to inherit the miles of rambling stone and mortar that form Gormenghast Castle and its kingdom, unless the conniving Steerpike, who is determined to rise above his menial position and control the House of Groan, has his way.In these extraordinary novels, Peake has created a world where all is like a dream - lush, fantastical, and vivid. Accompanying the text are Peake's own drawings, illustrating the whole assembly of strange and marvelous creatures that inhabit Gormenghast.Also featuring:Introductory essays by Anthony Burgess and Quentin CrispTwelve critical essays, curated by Peake scholar Peter G. WinningtonFragment of the unpublished novel, Titus Awakes

Master and Man and Other Stories


Leo Tolstoy - 1959
    “The Two Hussars,” inspired by his time in the army, contrasts a dashing father and his mean-spirited son. Illustrating Tolstoy’s belief that art must serve a moral purpose, “What Men Live By” portrays an angel sent to earth to learn three existential rules of life. And in the deeply moving “Master and Man,” a mercenary merchant travels with his unprotesting servant through a blizzard to close a business deal—little realizing he may soon have to settle accounts with his maker.Two hussars --Strider --God sees the truth but waits --A prisoner of the Caucasus --What men live by --Neglect a spark and the house burns down --The two old men --The three hermits --How much land does a man need? --Master and man.

My Brother Michael


Mary Stewart - 1959
    She had been sitting quietly in a crowded Athens cafe writing to her friend Elizabeth in England, "Nothing ever happens to me..."Then, without warning, a stranger approached, thrust a set of car keys at her and pointed to a huge black touring car parked at the curb. "The car for Delphi, mademoiselle... A matter of life and death," he whispered and disappeared.From that moment Camilla's life suddenly begins to take off when she sets out on a mysterious car journey to Delphi in the company of a charming but quietly determined Englishman named Simon Lester. Simon told Camilla he had come to the ancient Greek ruins to "appease the shade” of his brother Michael, killed some fourteen years earlier on Parnassus. From a curious letter Michael had written, Simon believed his brother had stumbled upon something of great importance hidden in the craggy reaches of the mountainside. And then Simon and Camilla learned that they were not alone in their search...The ride was Camilla's first mistake... or perhaps she had unintentionally invoked the gods. She finds herself in the midst of an exciting, intriguing, yet dangerous adventure. An extraordinary train of events turned on a nightmare of intrigue and terror beyond her wildest daydreams.

Pioneer, Go Home!


Richard Powell - 1959
    Originally released by Scribner's in 1959, it was the immediate follow-up to the author's best-known novel, The Philadelphian. Like its predecessor, Pioneer received rave reviews, spent weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and was made into a popular movie (1962's Follow That Dream starring Elvis Presley). The similarities end there, for with the new novel Powell chose satirical comedy over high drama with frequently sidesplitting results. Pioneer, Go Home! relates the adventures of the Kwimpers, a motley clan of New Jersey Pineys who break down on the side of a southern highway project and decide to claim squatter's rights. Call them hicks or bumpkins, if you like, but these Kwimpers are a heap more resourceful than most folks give them credit for and at least ten times as stubborn! When the government orders them to vacate, Pop Kwimper gets his dander up and the die is cast. Hilarity ensues as the family defends its humble homestead against a massed onslaught of conniving bureaucrats, Mother Nature, and the mob. This warm and witty satire of little man versus Big Gummint features a fast-paced story, a wonderful cast of characters, and dozens of memorable, laugh-out-loud moments. You can't help but cheer for the heroic Kwimpers as they thumb their noses at the authorities, make a living off the land, and stand up to gun-happy gamblers. Meantime, young Toby Kwimper (he has the strength of a giant because his heart is pure) and the babysitter, the remarkable Holly Jones, find the time to fall in love though it takes Toby some time to realize that Holly is real growed up. Fish and fishing are recurring themes in many of Richard Powell's novels, and there's plenty of both to go around in Pioneer, Go Home!.

Selected Works of Oscar Wilde


Oscar Wilde - 1959
    A writer of late nineteenth century, Oscar Wilde is popular for such works of literary art that portray aesthetic beauty, verbal craftsmanship and unbeatable wit.His works are characterized by a brilliant display of art and its relation with real life.

The Tanglewoods' Secret


Patricia St. John - 1959
    

The Henry Miller Reader


Henry Miller - 1959
    His boldness of approach and intense curiosity concerning man and nature are unequalled in the prose literature of our times." It is most fitting that this anthology of "the best" of Henry Miller should have been assembled by one of the first among Miller's contemporaries to recognize his genius, the eminent British writer Lawrence Durrell. Drawing material from a dozen different books Durrell has traced the main line and principal themes of the "single, endless autobiography" which is Henry Miller's life work. "I suspect," writes Durrell in his Introduction, "that Miller's final place will be among those towering anomalies of authorship like Whitman or Blake who have left us, not simply works of art, but a corpus of ideas which motivate and influence a whole cultural pattern." Earlier, H. L. Mencken had said, "his is one of the most beautiful prose styles today," and the late Sir Herbert Read had written that "what makes Miller distinctive among modern writers is his ability to combine, without confusion, the aesthetic and prophetic functions." Included are stories, "portraits" of persons and places, philosophical essays, and aphorisms. For each selection Miller himself prepared a brief commentary which fits the piece into its place in his life story. This framework is supplemented by a chronology from Miller's birth in 1891 up to the spring of 1959, a bibliography, and, as an appendix, an open letter to the Supreme Court of Norway written in protest of the ban on Sexus, a part of which appears in this volume.

My Friends the Miss Boyds


Jane Duncan - 1959
    Into this remote backwater come the 'Miss Boyds'-a clutch of flighty, townbred sisters. At first they are figures of fun, but the tragedy that overtakes them arouses all the compassion of the highland people. Full of humour, incident and colour, this delightful novel brings a forgotten era vividly to life, captures all a child's excitement as the world expands around her.

A Violent Life


Pier Paolo Pasolini - 1959
    Born in a shantytown, Tommaso Puzzilli was once young and hopeful, but he soon succumbs to life on the streets, where he must resort to crime and prostitution simply to stay alive. Written by an author who ultimately suffered the same chilling fate as one of his characters, this fictional account offers a startling portrait of the very real tragedies of urban poverty.

Citadel of God: A Novel about Saint Benedict


Louis de Wohl - 1959
    Benedict, the father of Western monasticism, who played such a major role in the Christianization and civilization of post-Roman Europe in the sixth century. De Wohl weaves an intricate tapestry of love, violence and piety to recount with historical accuracy the story of St. Benedict and the tempestuous era in which he lived. Since there are no contemporary biographies of this major saint of history and the Church, de Wohl's inspired account is of significant importance on the subject of saint's lives for today's spiritual seekers. Having lived in an era of great immorality and vice, not unlike our world today, Benedict's story has a strong message for modern Christians who seek, as he did, to turn away from the wickedness of the world to find Christ in prayer, study and solitude.

Eloise in Moscow


Kay Thompson - 1959
    No one could have predicted that this small masterpiece would be the result. First published in 1959 and out of print for more than three decades, their fourth book about Eloise is DELICIOUS.

The Load of Unicorn


Cynthia Harnett - 1959
    Also published as The Cargo of the Madalena.Bendy, whose family runs a scrivener's shop in fifteenth-century London, solves the mystery when the master printer, William Caxton, fails to receive the paper shipped to him.

The Beast Master


Andre Norton - 1959
    But something is upsetting the balance, and Storm is caught in the middle. He had thought the war was over but was it?“Miss Norton endows this story of a homeless, revenge-driven man with her own inimitable touch. The result is a compelling and compassionate tale.” The New York Times Book Review

The Darkness and the Dawn


Thomas B. Costain - 1959
    The story centers upon a man named Nicolan who has been sold into slavery to the Romans but escapes to Attila and helps the Hun in an effort to avenge himself on the Romans. There is also a love story involving Nicolan and a girl from his homeland and a sub-plot or two of interest.

The Greatest Short Stories of Anton Chekhov: A Collection Of Fifty Stories


Anton Chekhov - 1959
    His impressionistic depictions of Russian life and the human condition resound with emotional honesty, focusing on character rather than plot and revealing subtle but important truths. Thomas Mann held Chekhov in highest esteem, declaring, "His short stories rank with all that is greatest and best of European literature." This compilation of seven tales attests to the timeless appeal of the Russian author's short fiction.Selections include "Misery," an account of a sleigh-driver's attempts to communicate his overwhelming grief; "A Father," a meditation on the conflict between rejecting a monstrous parent and giving him his respectful due; "A Problem," which proposes that criminals cannot reform unless they pay for their misdeeds; and "In Exile," an examination of whether it is better to dream of happiness or to accept a living hell. Other tales include "Ward No. 6," relating a conflict between an asylum inmate and the institution's director; "My Life: The Story of a Provincial," in which a rebellious young bourgeois joins the working classes; and "Peasants," an exposé of the dehumanizing effects of poverty.

Mythologies


W.B. Yeats - 1959
    Based on Irish country beliefs, traditions, and folk tales, the stories were first published at the height of Yeats' romantic period in three collections entitled The Celtic Twilight, The Secret Rose, and Stories of Red Hanrahan.

The Rat-A-Tat Mystery & The Ragamuffin Mystery (2 in 1) (Barney Mysteries, #5+6)


Enid Blyton - 1959
    - The Rat-A-Tat Mystery - The Ragamuffin Mystery

The Thing at the Foot of the Bed


Maria Leach - 1959
    A collection of ghost stories originating in folk tales told the world over.

I Was a Teen-Age Dwarf


Max Shulman - 1959
    All my life I have spun in a wild tarantella of unappeased longing--from girl to girl to girl. Yet due to an excessive lack of height (often mistaken for lack of manliness or sex-drive), I have always had what some people (also mistaken) call perfect love--all despair and no fulfillment. Still I go on trying...Now this cat is hip. A typical Shulman character. They're all after the same THING. They'd all rather snap in the struggle than face the shame and desolation of failure. If you are a romantic misfit, wipe the dust off your love-life, read Max Shulman, and get with it!

Straight Down a Crooked Lane


Francena H. Arnold - 1959
    

Mark Twain Tonight!


Hal Holbrook - 1959
    An all-time audio bestseller with over 150,000 copies sold, this is the original award-winning performance.

The Collected Raymond Chandler


Raymond Chandler - 1959
    This collection contains all 25 of his short stories, including classics such as The Curtain and The King in Yellow, as well as all seven of his novels, including The Big Sleep and The Long Goodbye.  Penguin Random House Canada is proud to bring you classic works of literature in e-book form, with the highest quality production values. Find more today and rediscover books you never knew you loved.

Selected Tales and Sketches


Nathaniel Hawthorne - 1959
    With a determined commitment to the history of his native land, Nathaniel Hawthorne revealed, more incisively than any writer of his generation, the nature of a distinctly American consciousness. The pieces collected here deal with essentially American matters: the Puritan past, the Indians, the Revolution. But Hawthorne was highly – often wickedly – unorthodox in his account of life in early America, and his precisely constructed plots quickly engage the reader’s imagination. Written in the 1820s, 30s, and 40s, these works are informed by themes that reappear in Hawthorne’s longer works: The Scarlet Letter, The House of the Seven Gables and The Blithedale Romance. And, as Michael J. Colacurcio points out in his excellent introduction, they are themes that are now deeply embedded in the American literary tradition.--back coverHollow of the Three HillsSir William PhipsMrs. HutchinsonWives of the DeadMy Kinsman, Major MolineuxRoger Malvin's BurialPassages from a Relinquished WorkMr. Higginbotham's CatastropheHaunted MindAlice Doane's AppealGray ChampionYoung Goodman BrownWakefieldNotch of the White MountainsAmbitious GuestMay-Pole of Merry MountMinister's Black VeilSunday at HomeMan of AdamantEndicott and the Red CrossNight SketchesLegens of the Province-HouseHall of FantasyBirthmarkEgotism; or the Bosom-SerpentChristmas BanquetCelestial RailroadEarth's HolocaustArtist of the BeautifulRappacini’s DaughterEthan Brand

The Love Letter


Jack Finney - 1959
    Fantasy, Romance.I've heard of secret drawers in old desks, of course--who hasn't?But the day I bought my desk, I wasn't thinking of secret drawers, and I know very well I didn't have any least premonition or feel of mystery about it.Also availiable at:http://web.archive.org/web/2009022318...

In the Flicker of an Eyelid


Jacques Stephen Alexis - 1959
    La Nina Estrellita is pursuing her trade against the colorful backdrop of Holy Week 1948 in Port-au-Prince. Amid the rowdy street festivals and pious celebrations of the liturgical season, she notices a fellow Cuban exile, El Caucho, ship mechanic and union organizer, hanging around the Sensation Bar, and she begins to explore her attraction to him.In the Flicker of an Eyelid, first published in French as L'espace d'un cillement in 1959, appears here in English for the first time in a graceful, expert translation by the veteran critic Carrol F. Coates and the award-winning Haitian American writer Edwidge Danticat. Alexis offers a highly sympathetic look into the daily lives and tribulations of the Haitian people through the eyes of La Nina and the humane, searching worker El Caucho. The racism of the U.S. military, the selfish and profit-oriented machinations of Haitian politicians, the oppression of workers by the Cuban dictator Batista, the exploitation of women, and the particularly noteworthy links between Haiti and Cuba all form the figurative backdrop for a novel driven by unforgettable characters.

A Canticle for Leibowitz


Walter M. Miller Jr. - 1959
    From here the story spans centuries of ignorance, violence, and barbarism, viewing through a sharp, satirical eye the relentless progression of a human race damned by its inherent humanness to recelebrate its grand foibles and repeat its grievous mistakes.

The Case of the Missing Message


George Wyatt - 1959
    All clues seem to point toward a secret message which could bring the boys' new friend Skeets Fenton into his proper inheritance, and unmask the villains as well!

The Flowers of Hiroshima


Edita Morris - 1959
    

The Raymond Chandler MEGAPACK™: 14 Mystery Classics!


Raymond Chandler - 1959
    In 1932, at age forty-four, Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Great Depression. His first short story, “Blackmailers Don’t Shoot,” was published in 1933 in Black Mask, a popular pulp magazine. His first novel, The Big Sleep, was published in 1939. Some of Chandler’s novels are considered important literary works, and several are often considered masterpieces, including: Farewell, My Lovely (1940) and The Long Goodbye (1953), both included in this volume. All told, 13 stories and one essay on the art of mystery writing are included in this volume.Included are:SMART-ALECK KILL (1934)NEVADA GAS (1935)SPANISH BLOOD (1935)GUNS AT CYRANO’S (1936)NOON STREET NEMESIS (1936)THE KING IN YELLOW (1938)THE BIG SLEEP (1939)PEARLS ARE A NUISANCE (1939)FAREWELL, MY LOVELY (1940)THE HIGH WINDOW (1942)THE LADY IN THE LAKE (1943)THE LONG GOODBYE (1953)PLAYBACK (1958)THE SIMPLE ART OF MURDER (1944)If you enjoy this ebook, don't forget to search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press Megapack" to see more of the 190+ volumes in this series, covering adventure, historical fiction, mysteries, westerns, ghost stories, science fiction -- and much, much more!

The Fair to Middling


Arthur Calder-Marshall - 1959
    

An Edge of the Forest


Agnes Smith - 1959
    Beautiful, possibly allegorical story in which most of the characters are animals in the forest but other characters are a shepherd and his family, who live there at the edge of the forest.

Anthology of Children's Literature


Edna Johnson - 1959
    An anthology of nursery tales and rhymes, nonsense verse, poetry, folklore, mythology, epics, fiction, and non-fiction from a variety of sources.

From Russia, With Love ; Casino Royale ; Live And Let Die ; Diamonds Are Forever ; Dr No ; Goldfinger


Ian Fleming - 1959
    Six James Bond thrillers in one, complete & unabridged.

Thelwell Country


Norman Thelwell - 1959
    'Thelwell Country' contains foxhunters and farmers, picnickers and gypsies, and notoriously pony-struck children, all representative of man in uneasy communion with nature.

Murder to Music


Margaret Newman - 1959
    Attending the Metropolitana Choir’s concert was intended to make him a supportive partner… not the head of a murder investigation. But when the conductor drops dead during the performance, Hudson winds up with a shocking list of suspects – including his girlfriend.Unable to keep his professional and personal lives separate, Hudson finds himself embroiled in the peculiar hatreds and spiteful grudges that dominate the Metro’s managing committee. Desperate to ensure his girlfriend’s innocence, Hudson must work quickly to bring the murderer to light before it’s too late.This melodic murder mystery, brimming with charm and wit, was first published in 1959 and was Margaret Newman’s first novel.

A Handful of Dust and Decline and Fall


Evelyn Waugh - 1959
    Waugh at his devastatingly best in two great novels: "A Handful of Dust" and "Decline and Fall," coupled together in a "Laurel Edition" from Dell Publishing.

The Chandler Collection: Volume 2 (#3, 6, 7: The High Window; The Long Goodbye; Playback)


Raymond Chandler - 1959
    Its strong colloquial vein was a revolution in language as well as subject matter.... Marlowe liberated his author's imagination into an overheard democratic prose which is one of the most effective narrative instruments in our recent literature... Chandler's novels focus his hero's sensibility, and could almost be described as novels of sensibility. Their constant theme is big city lonliness and the wry pain of a sensitive man coping with the roughest elements of a corrupt society. It is Marlowe's doubleness that makes him interesting: the hard-boiled mask half-concealing Chandler's poetic and satiric mind Ross MacDonald

We Joined the Navy


John Winton - 1959
    

The Doll of Lilac Valley


Cora Cheney - 1959
    While spending her first summer away from home, nine-year old Laurie loses her favorite doll but then finds another, with surprising results.

The Rider of the White Horse


Rosemary Sutcliff - 1959
    For three years she trailed in the wake of her husband as his exploits on the battlefield become legendary, and she coped with the less than comfortable and exhausting lifestyle so that she could be with her husband when he needed her. The vivid writing of the author conveys the essence of this blood thirsty period in England's history.

The Quest of Excalibur


Leonard Wibberley - 1959
    

Leave If You Can


Luise Rinser - 1959
    She is a passionate and headstrong young woman, German on her father's side, Italian through her mother. She is also an ardent communist and an outspoken atheist. With Europe embroiled in World War II and her father missing in Russia, Angelina journeys alone to seek out her mother's family in Italy. Instead, she finds Giulia, a kindred spirit. In the summer of 1943, with Fascist Italy reeling under repeated defeats, Angelina and Giulia decide to fight for the socialist world revolution. Setting out alone through the wartime chaos, the two join an Italian partisan group led by the dashing Antonio. The partisans are soon in action against the Nazis and Angelina's courage and devotion to the cause earns her Antonio's admiration -- and his love. But when Angelina is injured during a battle, she finds herself locked in a spiritual struggle every bit as daunting as her physical battle against the Nazis. Originally written in German in 1959, Leave If You Can explores the challenge of God's mystical call versus the overpowering allure of the world, set against the backdrop of wartime Italy and the bombing of the abbey at Monte Cassino.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: My Favorites in Suspense


Alfred Hitchcock - 1959
    

When the Moon Was Blue and Other Stories


Enid Blyton - 1959
    

A Bess Streeter Aldrich Treasury


Bess Streeter Aldrich - 1959
    Novels: A Lantern in Her Hand; Miss Bishop Short Stories: The Day of Retaliation; Will the Romance be the Same?; Star Across he Tracks; Another Brought Gifts; I Remember

Dangerous Journey


László Hámori - 1959
    Aided by a friend in Budapest, they plan to stowaway aboard a freight train, pass the Austrian border and make their way to Sweden where Latsi's parents have resided for several years. The unpredictable obstacles in this race for freedom add to the existent hazards. The boys are separated, Pishta comes down with a fever and Latsi comes in contact with a Russian spy whose job it is to reclaim wayward refugees. With the help of a Swedish journalist in Austria., the spy is apprehended, the boys reunited and the long dangerous journey completed. A timely topic employs tried and true techniques of story telling in this well thriller in the cloak and dagger vein.

The Prisoner of Tordesillas


Lawrence Schoonover - 1959
    Her son and received word to come, as she was gravely ill. Her son, Charles Quint, The Holy Roman Emperor, His Imperial and Apostolic Majesty, was not at ease in Spain, as Flemish was his native tongue. He journeyed there, expecting a long and tedious stay, but she died moments after he went in to see her. Now came the question of his right to rule Spain, along with many other countries under his rule.

Psycho Screenplay


Joseph Stefano - 1959
    PHOENIX, ARIZONA - (DAY) - HELICOPTER SHOT Above Midtown section of the city.....

The Shadow-Line and Two Other Tales: Typhoon, The Secret Sharer


Joseph Conrad - 1959
    

What Men Live By and Where Love Is, There God Is Also


Leo Tolstoy - 1959
    

Tales of Ancient India


J.A.B. Van Buitenen - 1959
    . . . The world in which the tales are set is one which placed a premium upon slickness and guile as aids to success. . . . Merchants, aristocrats, Brahmins, thieves and courtesans mingle with vampires, demi-gods and the hierarchy of heaven in a series of lively or passionate adventures. The sources of the individual stories are clearly indicated; the whole treatment is scholarly without being arid."—The Times Literary Supplement "Fourteen tales from India, newly translated with a terse and vibrant effectiveness. These tales will appeal to any reader who enjoys action, suspense, characterization, and suspension of disbelief in the supernatural."—The Personalist

Snipp, Snapp, Snurr & The Seven Dogs


Maj Lindman - 1959
    

Bond Street Story


Norman Collins - 1959
    Bond Street Story is concerned with the private lives of the assistants, buyers, models, managers and directors of a great London store.

The Intruder


Charles Beaumont - 1959
    He was a stranger, but he brought lust and love, rape and hate to this quiet southern town. He was... the intruder.It was a sleepy southern town with nice folks and good schools. Then the intruder arrived from the North. With him came trouble, fear, and hate so vicious it could turn neighbor against neighbor, child against child, white against black - and destroy them all.

Letters from Mom


Julio Cortázar - 1959
    But when a name from the past appears in an otherwise unremarkable letter, it comes with a dark shadow. What emerges is a psychological study of grief swirling with guilt, equal parts love-triangle and ghost story.“Letters from Mom” is one of Julio Cortázar’s most beloved short stories, part of the same collection (Las armas secretas) that gave us “Blow-up” and “At Your Service”. It is translated here into English for the first time.

Jeanne-Marie at the Fair


Françoise Seignobosc - 1959