Charlotte Bront�'s Jane Eyre met immediate success when it was first published in 1847 and remains a much-loved classic. Considered by the public to be rough and strange when it was originally published, Emily Bront�'s only novel Wuthering Heights has become one the most popular of all English novels. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Bront�'s second novel, was a dramatic and courageous challenge to the conventions supposedly upheld by Victorian society. It has since become a classic, compelling in its imaginative power, the realism and range of its dialogue, and its psychological insight into the characters involved in a marital battle.

    Notes from Underground and Other Stories is a comprehensive collection of Dostoevsky’s short fiction. Many of these stories, like his great novels, reveal his special sympathy for the solitary and dispossessed, explore the same complex psychological issues and subtly combine rich characterization and philosophical meditations on the (often) dark areas of the human psyche, all conveyed in an idiosyncratic blend of deadly seriousness and wild humour. In Notes from Underground, the Underground Man casually dismantles utilitarianism and celebrates in its stead a perverse but vibrant masochism. A Christmas Tree and a Wedding recounts the successful pursuit of a young girl by a lecherous old man. In Bobok, one Ivan Ivanovitch listens in on corpses gossiping in a cemetery and ends up deploring their depravity. In A Gentle Spirit, the narrator describes his dawning recognition that he is responsible for his wife’s suicide. In short, as a commentator on spiritual stagnation, Dostoevsky has no equal.

    Macabre, unsettling and deliciously enjoyable, these stories make the perfect bedtime read – but be warned, once you've started reading you won't be able to stop . .

      Considered by many the greatest short story writer, Anton Chekhov changed the genre itself with his spare, impressionistic depictions of Russian life and the human condition. From characteristically brief, evocative early pieces such as “The Huntsman” and the tour de force “A Boring Story,” to his best-known stories such as “The Lady with the Little Dog” and his own personal favorite, “The Student,” Chekhov’s short fiction possesses the transcendent power of art to awe and change the reader. This monumental edition, expertly translated, is especially faithful to the meaning of Chekhov’s prose and the unique rhythms of his writing, giving modern readers an authentic sense of his style and a true understanding of his greatness.Contains: The death of a clerk --Small fry --The huntsman --The malefactor --Panikhida --Anyuta --Easter night --Vanka --Sleepy --A boring story --Gusev --Peasant women --The fidget --In exile --Ward No. 6 --The black monk --Rothschild's fiddle --The student --Anna on the neck --The house with the mezzanine --The man in a case --Gooseberries --A medical case --The darling --On official business --The lady with the little dog --At Christmastime --In the ravine --The bishop --The fiancée.

    But it is in her short stories that her extraordinary talents—as a fabulist, feminist, social critic, and weaver of tales—are most penetratingly evident. This volume presents Carter's considerable legacy of short fiction gathered from published books, and includes early and previously unpublished stories. From reflections on jazz and Japan, through vigorous refashionings of classic folklore and fairy tales, to stunning snapshots of modern life in all its tawdry glory, we are able to chart the evolution of Carter's marvelous, magical vision.

    Dick has written some of the most intriguing, original and thought-provoking fiction of our time. He has been described by The Wall Street Journal as the man who, "More than anyone else…really puts you inside people's minds."

    In his preface, Andre Maurois writes: "Borges is a great writer who has composed only little essays or short narratives. Yet they suffice for us to call him great because of their wonderful intelligence, their wealth of invention, and their tight, almost mathematical style."Labyrinths is a representative selection of Borges' writing, some forty pieces drawn from various books of his published over the years. The translations are by Harriet de Onis, Anthony Kerrigan, and others, including the editors, who have provided a biographical and critical introduction, as well as an extensive bibliography.

    The essays were written during a difficult time in Twain's life; he was deep in debt and had lost his wife and one of his daughters. The book consists of a series of short stories, many of which deal with God and Christianity. Twain penned a series of letters from the point-of-view of a dejected angel on Earth. This title story consists of letters written by the archangel Satan to archangels, Gabriel and Michael, about his observations on the curious proceedings of earthly life and the nature of man's religions. By analyzing the idea of heaven and God that is widely accepted by those who believe in both, Twain is able to take the silliness that is present and study it with the common sense that is absent. Not so much an attack as much as a cold dissection. Other short stories in the book include a bedtime story about a family of cats Twain wrote for his daughters, and an essay explaining why an anaconda is morally superior to Man. Twain's writings in Letters From the Earth find him at perhaps his most quizzical and questioning state ever.

    Contains the American novelist's greatest short novels: Spotted Horses, Old Man, and The Bear.

    'Where I'm Calling From', his last collection, encompasses classic stories from 'Cathedral', 'What We Talk About When We Talk About Love' and earlier Carver volumes, along with seven new works previosly unpublished in book form. Together, these 37 stories give us a superb overview of Carver's life work and show us why he was so widely imitated but never equaled.

    His sense of isolation lies at the heart of these later works. "Billy Budd, Sailor," a classic confrontation between good and evil, is the story of an innocent young man unable to defend himself against a wrongful accusation. The other selections here--"Bartleby," "The Encantadas," "Benito Cereno," and "The Piazza"--also illuminate, in varying guises, the way fictions are created and shared with a wider society.In his introduction Frederick Busch discusses Melville's preoccupation with his "correspondence with the world," his quarrel with silence, and why fiction was, for Melville,"a matter of life and death."Bartleby --The piazza --The Encantadas --The bell-tower --Benito Cereno --The paradise of bachelors and the tartarus of maids --Billy Budd, sailor.

    It is one of a trilogy of Burgess books with biblical themes, the others being The Kingdom of the Wicked and Moses.Man of Nazareth is a fictionalized historic account recalling the story of Jesus from his birth to his death.

    Her early-twentieth-century writings continue to inspire writers and activists today. This collection includes selections from both her fiction and nonfiction work. In addition to the title story, there are seven short stories collected here that combine humor, anger, and startling vision to suggest how women's "place" in society should be changed to benefit all. The nonfiction selections are from Gilman's The Man-Made World: Our Androcentric Culture and her masterpiece, Women And Economics, which was translated into seven languages and established her international reputation as a theorist. Also included in a delightful excerpt from Gilman's utopian novel, Herland, an acidly funny tale about three American male explorers who stumble into an all-female society and begin their odyssey by insisting, "This is a civilized country . . . there must be men." Gilman's analyses of economic and women's issues are as incisive and relevant today as they were upon their original publication. This volume is an unprecedented opportunity to rediscover a powerful American writer.Content: Introduction Stories. The yellow wallpaper The unexpected The giant wistaria An extinct angel The rocking-chair Deserted An unnatural mother Three Thanksgivings The Cottagette When I was a witch An honest woman Turned Making a Change Mrs. Elder's Idea Their house Bee Wise Fulfilment If I were a man Mr. Peeble's heart Mrs. Merrill's duties. Selections from the author's autobiography. The Living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

    A despairing author abandons his wife, but in the course of a long night's wandering, he learns love's true value and returns to her, only to find her a different woman than the one he left. A landowner, seeking to prove a principle, inadvertently exposes the ferocity of mother love. A wealthy young traveler melts the hauteur of a lovely woman by masquerading as her aged and loyal servant.Shimmering and haunting, Dinesen's Winter's Tales transport us, through their author's deft guidance of our desire to imagine, to the mysterious place where all stories are born.

    Le Guin has been recognised for almost fifty years as one of the most important writers in the SF field - and is likewise feted beyond the confines of the genre. The Wind's Twelve Quarters was her first collection and it brings together some of finest short fiction, including the Hugo Award-winning The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, the Nebula Award-winning The Day Before the Revolution, and the Hugo-nominated Winter's King, which gave readers their first glimpse of the world later made famous in her Hugo- and Nebula-winning masterpiece The Left Hand of Darkness.Contents:The Wind's Twelve Quarters • (1975) • collection by Ursula K. Le GuinThe Compass Rose • (1982) • collection by Ursula K. Le GuinA Trip to the Head • (1970) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinApril in Paris • (1962) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinDarkness Box • (1963) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinDirection of the Road • (1973) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinForeword (The Wind's Twelve Quarters) • (1975) • essay by Ursula K. Le GuinNine Lives • (1969) • novelette by Ursula K. Le GuinSemley's Necklace • [Hainish] • (1964) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le Guin (variant of The Dowry of Angyar)The Day Before the Revolution • [Hainish] • (1974) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinThe Field of Vision • (1973) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinThe Good Trip • (1970) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinThe Masters • (1963) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinThe Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas • (1973) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinThe Rule of Names • [Earthsea Cycle] • (1964) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinThe Stars Below • (1974) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinThe Word of Unbinding • [Earthsea Cycle] • (1964) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinThings • (1970) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinVaster Than Empires and More Slow • (1971) • novelette by Ursula K. Le GuinWinter's King • (1969) • novelette by Ursula K. Le GuinGwilan's Harp • (1977) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinIntracom • (1974) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinMalheur County • (1979) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinMazes • (1975) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinPreface (The Compass Rose) • (1982) • essay by Ursula K. Le GuinSchrödinger's Cat • (1974) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinSmall Change • (1981) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinSome Approaches to the Problem of the Shortage of Time • (1979) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinSQ • (1978) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinSur • (1982) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinThe Author of the Acacia Seeds and Other Extracts from the Journal of the Association of Therolinguistics • (1974) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinThe Diary of the Rose • [Orsinia] • (1976) • novelette by Ursula K. Le GuinThe Eye Altering • (1976) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinThe First Report of the Shipwrecked Foreigner to the Kadanh of Derb • (1978) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinThe New Atlantis • (1975) • novelette by Ursula K. Le GuinThe Pathways of Desire • (1979) • novelette by Ursula K. Le GuinThe Phoenix • (1982) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinThe Water Is Wide • (1976) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinThe White Donkey • (1980) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinThe Wife's Story • (1982) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le GuinTwo Delays on the Northern Line • [Orsinia] • (1979) • shortstory by Ursula K. Le Guin