The Book of Imaginary Beings
Jorge Luis Borges - 1957
G. Wells' The Time Machine. A lavish feast of exotica brought vividly to life with art commissioned specifically for this volume, The Book of Imaginary Beings will delight readers of classic fantasy as well as Borges' many admirers.
Agnes Grey & Poems
Anne Brontë - 1992
Possessed of an unshakeable sense of entitlement and a boundless sense of self-worth, assured of the adoration of all, Matilda can break men's hearts for fun. Agnes-diffident, careworn and poor-can only gape in astonishment at the figure her pupil cuts in the world. Employed to lead and form her, she is instead buffeted about in Matilda's tumultuous wake. She loves her young student-it is impossible not to. But it is hard not to wonder if Matilda's good fortunes will ever end.
The Art of Dancing in the Rain
Jack Lehman - 2013
Or read this book and find out how you have all the tools you need, but must make the one change to become the writer you have always wanted to be.
Vita Nuova
Dante Alighieri
The thirty-one poems in the first of his major writings are linked by a lyrical prose narrative celebrating and debating the subject of love. Composed upon Dante's meeting with Beatrice and the "Lord of Love," it is a love story set to the task of confirming the "new life" inspired by this meeting. With a critical introduction and explanatory notes, this is a new translation of a supreme work which has been read variously as biography, religious allegory, and a meditation on poetry itself.
Poetry of the First World War: An Anthology
Tim Kendall - 2013
Its poets mark the conflict in ways that are both intensely personal and as enduring as any monument. Their lines have come to express the feelings of a nation about the horrors and consequences of war.This new anthology provides a definitive record of the achievements of the Great War poets and offers a fresh assessment of the work on the centenary of the Great War's outbreak. Focusing on the poets themselves, the book is organized by writer, not theme or chronology. It offers generous selectionsfrom the celebrated soldier-poets, including Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, and Rupert Brooke, whilst also incorporating less well-known writing by civilian and women poets. It also includes two previously unpublished poems by Ivor Gurney.A general introduction charts the history of the war poets' reception and challenges prevailing myths about the war poets' progress from idealism to bitterness. The work of each poet is prefaced with a biographical account that sets the poems in their historical context.Although the War has now passed out of living memory, its haunting of our language and culture has not been exorcised. Its poetry survives because it continues to speak to and about us.
The Best American Poetry 2006
Billy Collins - 1990
The result is a celebration of the pleasures of poetry. In his charming and candid introduction Collins explains how he chose seventy-five poems from among the thousands he considered. With insightful comments from the poets illuminating their work, and series editor David Lehman's thought-provoking foreword, The Best American Poetry 2006 is a brilliant addition to a series that links the most noteworthy verse and prose poems of our time to a readership as discerning as it is devoted to the art of poetry.
The Story of San Michele
Axel Munthe - 1929
It contains reminiscences of many periods of the author's life. He associated with a number of celebrities of his times, including Jean-Martin Charcot, Louis Pasteur, Henry James, and Guy de Maupassant, all of whom figure in the book. He also associated with the very poorest of people, including Italian immigrants in Paris and plague victims in Naples, as well as rural people such as the residents of Capri, and the Nordic Lapplanders. He was an unabashed animal lover, and animals figure prominently in several stories, perhaps most notably his alcoholic pet baboon, Billy.The stories cover a wide range in terms of both how serious they are and how literal. Several discussions with animals and various supernatural beings take place, and the final chapter actually takes place after Munthe has died and includes his discussions with Saint Peter at the gates of Heaven. At no point does Munthe seem to take himself particularly seriously, but some of the things he discusses are very serious, such as his descriptions of rabies research in Paris, including euthanasia of human patients, and a suicide attempt by a man convinced he had been exposed to the disease.Several of the most prominent figures in Munthe's life are not mentioned in Story of San Michele. His wife and children do not figure in the narrative; very little of his time in England is mentioned, even though he married a British woman, his children were largely raised in England, and he himself became a British citizen during the First World War. His decades-long service as personal physician and confidante to the Queen of Sweden is mentioned only in the most oblique terms; at one point, while naming her only as "she who must be mother to a whole nation", he mentions that she regularly brings flowers for the grave of one of her dogs buried at Villa San Michele, at another point, one of his servants is out walking his dogs, and encounters the Queen, who mentions having given the dog to Munthe.Munthe published a few other reminiscences and essays during the course of his life, and some of them were incorporated into The Story of San Michele, which vastly overshadows all his other writing both in length and popularity. Notably, his accounts of working with a French ambulance corps during the First World War are not included.World wide, the book was immensely successful; by 1930, there had been twelve editions of the English version alone, and Munthe added a second preface. A third preface was written in 1936 for an illustrated edition
The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity
Carlo M. Cipolla - 1976
It is more powerful than the Mafia or the military. It has global catastrophic effects and can be found anywhere from the world's most powerful boardrooms to your local pub. This is the immensely powerful force of human stupidity.Seeing the shambolic state of human affairs, and sensing the dark force at work behind it, Carlo M. Cipolla, the late, noted professor of economic history at the University of California, Berkeley, created a vitally important economic model that would allow us to detect, know, and neutralize this threat: The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity.If you've ever found yourself despairing at the ubiquity of stupidity among even the most 'intellectual' of people, then this hilarious, timely, and slightly alarming little book is for you. Arm yourself in the face of baffling political realities, unreasonable colleagues, or the unbridled misery of Christmas day with the in-laws with the first and only economic model for stupidity."Cipolla's subtle tongue-in-cheek humor made this book an underground classic in Italy. Today, under current worldwide political trends, it reads more like black humor. Keep in mind: reliable statistical data shows that 98% of the people seriously believe that they are far less stupid than the average." --Carlo Rovelli, author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
The Addams Family: Wednesday’s Library
Calliope Glass - 2019
The all-star cast includes Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloe Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard, Nick Kroll, Bette Midler, Allison Janney, and Elsie Fisher.From the dark mind of everyone’s favorite cult character, Wednesday Addams, comes this literary collection of quotes and spooky short stories!This gift book is perfect for fans of all ages and includes quotes from Edgar Allan Poe, Shakespeare, Mary Shelley, and more. There’s no doubt that Wednesday’s Library is sure to be a favorite of girls everywhere!The Addams Family aren’t your typical American family. Together, Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday, Pugsley, Mad Uncle Fester, and Grandma are an eccentric clan who delight in the macabre and are unaware that people find them a bit different than the rest of the neighborhood. Based on the famous New Yorker creations of Charles Addams, this animated action-comedy will follow the Addams family, whose lives begin to unravel when they face off against a crafty reality TV host while also preparing for their extended family to arrive for a major celebration, Addams-style.THE ADDAMS FAMILY © 2019 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. © 2019 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Love from the Heart of the Home: A Keepsake Book
Susan Branch - 1994
This Keepsake Book features recipes and paintings for Valentine's Day -- or any day that love is in the air. Ribbon marker.
The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy
Jacob Burckhardt - 1860
In this landmark work he depicts the Italian city-states of Florence, Venice and Rome as providing the seeds of a new form of society, and traces the rise of the creative individual, from Dante to Michelangelo. A fascinating description of an era of cultural transition, this nineteenth-century masterpiece was to become the most influential interpretation of the Italian Renaissance, and anticipated ideas such as Nietzsche's concept of the 'Ubermensch' in its portrayal of an age of genius.
The Roaring Girl
Thomas Dekker - 1611
Each volume includes a critical introduction biography of the author, discussions of dates and sources, textual details, a bibliography and information about the staging of the plav. New Mermaids include plays by Beaumont, Behn, Boucicault, Chapman, Congreve, Dekker, Dryden, Etherege, Farquhar, Ford, Goldsmith, Hevwood, Jonson, Kyd, Marlowe, Marston, Massinger, Middleton, Peele, Rowley, Sheridan, Synge, Tourneur, Vanbrugh, Webster, Wilde, and Wvcherley.
The Portrait of Mr. W.H.
Oscar Wilde - 1889
Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
The Duel
Giacomo Casanova - 1789
Translated for the first time into English, this autobiographical novel describes Casanova’s extraordinary battle with a Polish count, while on the run from the Venetian authorities. Having escaped from Venice’s infamous Piombi Prison, Casanova was forced into exile. Far from destitute, however, his reputation gained him entry into European society’s highest echelons. Yet there, he soon found himself obliged to engage in a duel over a ballerina—a lady in whom neither he nor his Polish rival had the slightest interest. Recounting the deadly encounter and the surprising events it precipitated with sardonic wit, Casanova creates a work of thrilling adventure and inimitable literary style. Giacomo Casanova was an adventurer, a spy, a poet, and a novelist. His literary reputation rests on his remarkable History of My Life, which vividly records not only his exploits and adventures but the manners and morals of the day.
The Etruscan
Mika Waltari - 1955
When she fell in love with another, he was forced to flee to Etruria & found a destiny beyond his wildest expectations & powers.