Book picks similar to
Petronius' Satyricon by Alyson Dunlop


mythology
plays
toliara
american-literature

The Distance from Here: A Play


Neil LaBute - 2003
    This intense look at the dark side of American suburbia is a dark and provocative new play by award-winning playwright, screenwriter, and director LaBute.

The Crucible: Text and Criticism


Arthur MillerAldous Huxley - 1971
    Based on historical people and real events, Miller's drama is a searing portrait of a community engulfed by hysteria. In the rigid theocracy of Salem, rumors that women are practicing witchcraft galvanize the town's most basic fears and suspicions; and when a young girl accuses Elizabeth Proctor of being a witch, self-righteous church leaders and townspeople insist that Elizabeth be brought to trial. The ruthlessness of the prosecutors and the eagerness of neighbor to testify against neighbor brilliantly illuminate the destructive power of socially sanctioned violence. Written in 1953, The Crucible is a mirror Miller uses to reflect the anti-communist hysteria inspired by Senator Joseph McCarthy's "witch-hunts" in the United States. Within the text itself, Miller contemplates the parallels, writing "Political opposition...is given an inhumane overlay, which then justifies the abrogation of all normally applied customs of civilized behavior. A political policy is equated with moral right, and opposition to it with diabolical malevolence." The Viking Critical Library edition of Arthur Miller's dramatic recreation of the Salem witch trials contains the complete text of The Crucible as well as extensive critical and contextual material about the play and the playwright, including:Selections from Miller's writings on his most frequently performed playEssays on the historical background of The Crucible, including personal narratives by participants in the trials and records of witchcraft in Salem from the original documentsReviews of The Crucible, in production by Brooks Atkinson, Walter Kerr, Eric Bentley, and othersExcerpts from Jean-Paul Sartre's Les Sorcières de Salem, a "spin-off" of Miller's play, and three analogous works by Twain, Shaw, and Budd SchulbergCritical essays on the play, on Miller, and on the play in the context of Miller's oeuvreAn introduction by the editor, a chronology, a list of topics for discussion and papers prepared by Malcolm Cowley, and a bibliography

Chicago Stories: 40 Dramatic Fictions


Michael Czyzniejewski - 2012
    O'Leary to Barack Obama. "Flexing impressive literary chops, the beer vendor/creative-writing professor captures both the tough, defensive exterior and the vulnerable, often-broken heart of his city."— Timeout Chicago"Chicago, a page at a time. Michael Czyzniejewski gets right to the point in telling the city's stories." — Chicago Tribune"...Michael Czyzniejewski’s “Chicago Stories,” forty fictional monologues riffing on the common culture of the Windy City’s shared history, projected forward into a possible future. Not quite historical fiction—more like historical jazz." — Newcity Lit"In 'Chicago Stories,' Michael Czyzniejewski summons all of Chicago — its ghosts, living and dead, its heroes and fools, sinners and saints, its people and places and all of its occasions — and in these pages they have gathered, strange and unlikely bedfellows, to sing a new song for Chicago. It will twist your arm behind your back, this song. It will break your fingers."— Billy Lombardo, author of The Man With Two Arms and The Logic of a Rose: Chicago Stories

Comedy of Marriage and Other Tales


Guy de Maupassant - 2004
    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

MATSYA: The First Avatar


Sundari Venkatraman - 2018
    It’s Asura Hayagriva who’s gotten away with the sacred scriptures.Lord Vishnu offers to go to the creator’s rescue and takes the guise of Matsya, the fish. King Satyavrath lands up with a tiny gold fish when he’s offering prayers to the Sun God one morning. Is the fish all that it appears to be?How can Satyavrath help the fish?Read more to find out the reason for Lord Vishnu taking the avatar on earth as Matsya. *This is a straightforward story of the first avatar of Mahavishnu, retold in simple English just the way it’s written over the ages. The target audience is the youngsters, children, who don’t know all that much about Indian mythology. It’s also for those parents who are keen to read aloud stories to their children and are looking for suitable books on mythology.

Poseidon's Academy and the Vanishing Students: A Middle Grade Fantasy Series


Sarah A. Vogler - 2019
    But the Fates have different plans in mind for Hailey. Only a few weeks into the school year a student vanishes. Everyone believes them lost in the palace, but when more students begin disappearing one by one, Hailey realises someone, or something, is taking the students and that everyone living in the Academy is in serious danger. *** Scroll up and click ‘buy now’ to join teenage demigod Hailey for high school in a magical palace where adventure, monsters, and vengeful gods await. _________________________________________________________________________________ Here's what readers are saying about this middle grade adventure series: “Funny fast paced good light read. Recommended to my kids can't wait to read the next one.” Heather, Goodreads ★★★★★“Sarah A Vogler leads us through a mind-boggling maze of Greek mythology, Gods and some serious villains. I’m in awe of such an entrancing story and can not wait to dive under the waters and beneath the pages of Hailey’s continued adventure.” Kellie, Goodreads ★★★★★“This story and the whole series is really good. I agree it is a great way to introduce kids to reading and encourage an early love of mythology and history. If any age enjoyed Harry Potter read this series you will enjoy it as well.” Vickie, Goodreads ★★★★★“What an incredible book!! I was swept away in this wonderfully written book. With the impulsivity you would expect from high school freshmen, we watch friendships grow and individuals learn who they are. It was a very unique spin on mythology with plenty of adventure. I think fans of Rick Riordan will greatly enjoy this book but it also has a bit of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer feel to it as well.’ Amy, Goodreads ★★★★★“A very fun read with lots of action and daring. I liked that a part of the message was facing one sphere no matter what.” Ciayrra, Goodreads ★★★★★

A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur


Tennessee Williams - 1979
    Louis in the mid-thirties––a lovely Sunday for a picnic at Creve Coeur Lake. But Dorothea, one of Tennessee Williams’s most engaging "marginally youthful," forever hopeful Southern belles, is home waiting for a phone call from the principal of the high school where she teaches civics––the man she expects to fulfill her deferred dreams of romance and matrimony. Williams’s unerring dialogue reveals each of the four characters of A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur with precision and clarity: Dorothea, who does even her "setting-up exercises" with poignant flutters; Bodey, her German roommate, who wants to pair Dotty with her beer-drinking twin, Buddy, thereby assuring nieces, nephews, and a family for both herself and Dotty; Helena, a fellow teacher, with the "eyes of a predatory bird," who would like to "rescue" Dotty from her vulgar, common surroundings and substitute an elegant but sterile spinster life; and Miss Gluck, a newly orphaned and distraught neighbor, whom Bodey comforts with coffee and crullers while Helena mocks them both. Focusing on one morning and one encounter of four women, Williams once again skillfully explores, with comic irony and great tenderness, the meaning of loneliness, the need for human connection, as well as the inevitable compromises one must make to get through "the long run of life."

Our Man in Havana


Clive Francis - 2015
    So when the British Secret Service asks him to become their ‘man in Havana’ he can’t afford to say no. There’s just one problem…he doesn’t know anything! To avoid suspicion, he begins to recruit nonexistent sub-agents, concocting a series of intricate fictions. But Wormold soon discovers that his stories are closer to the truth than he could have ever imagined… In Clive Francis’ adaptation, Graham Greene’s classic satirical novel becomes a wonderfully funny and fast-moving romp.

Amrapali


Adurthi Subba Rao
    Amrapali craved peace; Upagupta’s bearing exuded contentment. Amrapali depended on the adulation of her audience; Upagupta spurned the attentions of the rich and famous. Their stories were different, but the Buddha’s wise teachings linked their lives – and the lessons to be learned from them.

The Odyssey


Mary Zimmerman - 2003
    A classical muse appears, and the young woman becomes the goddess Athena--a tireless advocate for Odysseus in his struggle to get home. With her trademark irreverent and witty twist on classic works, Zimmerman brings to life the story of Odysseus's ten-year journey, depicting his encounters with characters such as Circe, the Cyclops, Poseidon, Calypso, the Sirens, and others.

H of H Playbook


Anne Carson - 2021
    In myth Herakles is an embodiment of manly violence who returns home after years of making war on enemies and monsters (his famous “Labors of Herakles”) to find he cannot adapt himself to a life of peacetime domesticity. He goes berserk and murders his whole family. Suicide is his next idea. Amazingly, this does not happen. Due to the intervention of his friend Theseus, Herakles comes to believe he is not, after all, indelibly stained by his own crimes, nor is his life without value. It remains for the reader to judge this redemptive outcome.      “I think there is no such thing as an innocent landscape,” said Anselm Kiefer, painter of forests grown tall on bones.

Agamemnon


Aeschylus
    Classical Greek drama is brought vividly to life in this series of new translations. Students are encouraged to engage with the text through detailed commentaries, including0 suggestions for discussion and analysis. In addition, numerous practical questions stimulate ideas on staging and encourage students to explore the play's dramatic qualities. Agamemnon is suitable for students of both Classical Civilisation and Drama. Useful features include full synopsis of the play, commentary alongside translation for easy reference and a comprehensive introduction to the Greek Theatre. Agamemnon is aimed primarily at A-level and undergraduate students in the UK, and college students in North America.

Three Plays: Desire Under the Elms / Strange Interlude / Mourning Becomes Electra


Eugene O'Neill - 1931
    These three plays exemplify Eugene O'Neil's ability to explore the limits of the human predicament, even as he sounds the depths of his audiences' hearts.

Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman


Eric J. Sterling - 2008
    The topics include feminism and the role of women in the drama, the American Dream, business and capitalism, the significance of technology, the legacy that Willy leaves to Biff, and Miller's use of symbolism. The authors of the essays include prominent Arthur Miller scholars such as Terry Otten and the late Steven Centola as well as young, emerging scholars. Some of the essays, particularly the ones written by the emerging scholars, tend to employ literary theory while the ones by the established scholars tend to illustrate the strengths of traditional criticism by interpreting the text closely. It is fascinating to see how scholars at different stages of their academic careers approach a given topic from distinct perspectives and sometimes diverse methodologies. The essays offer insightful and provocative readings of Death of a Salesman in a collection that will prove quite useful to scholars and students of Miller's most famous play.

The Bhairav Putras


Suhail Mathur - 2014
    With events that unease, shock, and violate the sentiments and emotions of the townsfolk, one man - Keshav, the young & dynamic son of the local Zamindar, cautiously gathers a group of men from different walks of life and with different motives, and carefully and strategically plans the unthinkable, a revolution-a revolution to overthrow the Britishers not just by force or might, but also through wit & intellect!What happens when a group of men take on the might of the powerful British empire and embark on a journey full of action, adventure, planning, plotting, bloodshed, conspiracy & patriotism, to encounter four mysterious strangers, while in search of a long forgotten book written in the times of Emperor Ashoka, which holds the answer to several secrets, who turn & alter the course of the future events, even as the English are besieged with numerous problems ranging from the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, to Gandhi's ways & means of achieving Independence. Read on THE BHAIRAVA PUTRAS to know more about the classic and legendary tale of a band of men who defied the norms to fight guns, bullets, injustice, deception, and intrigue at every corner of their adventurous and thrilling escapades, to uproot the centre hold of dominance & authority, through mountainous terrains, dense & thick jungles, secret hide outs, and rivers in spate; which unfortunately got lost, somewhere in the annals of History !