Bad Intentions: The Mike Tyson Story


Peter Heller - 1989
    His book is both a biography and a history of contemporary boxing, a fascinating tale of greed, violence, sex, and dollars."-- San Francisco Chronicle Mike Tyson is boxing's most beloved bad boy. With a history of street-gang violence, juvenile prison, sexual scandal, marital strife, courtroom battles, and imprisonment for rape, he has become one of the most publicized athletes in history. At age 23 he was already considered among the greatest prizefighters of all time, and, his career is far from over. Relying on in-depth research and interviews with those who have known Tyson at every stage of his life, Bad Intentions portrays the shy child who became a vicious street thug, discovered boxing in juvenile prison, and was brought to the attention of the legendary Cus D'Amato to be shaped to be one thing only--heavyweight champion of the world. Here is Tyson's fight-by-fight path to that goal, the millions of dollars made and fought over, the sex and violence of his personal life, and his eventual defeats both in the ring and in court. Bad Intentions is an essential read for all who would understand the ins and outs of the most controversial sport in America.

A World of Art


Henry M. Sayre - 1994
    College level text for art appreciation.

The Canterbury Tales


Geraldine McCaughrean - 1984
    Even with the rain, they were glad to be on their way--priests, nuns, tradesmen, men from the city, all pilgrims on the road to Canterbury. To pass the long journey they told each other stories: of magic and trickery, of animals with blazing eyes, of people with their pants on fire, of two thousand men battling before smoking walls, stories of love and death and the devil. There were written down by Geoffrey Chaucer, and he called them The Canterbury Tales. Geraldine McCaughrean retells The Canterbury Tales for children in a lively and humorous style which captures the original flair of Chaucer himself. She introduces us to the characters who told these tales: the shy, battle-hardened Knight, the Summoner whose breath smells of onions, the angry Miller with his read beard, and the Widow of Bath who likes a happy ending. The stories and the characters are vividly brought to life by Victor Ambrus, with pictures of wild chases, exciting battles, and the April countryside through which the pilgrims travel.

The Cure


Sonia Levitin - 1999
    We have noted tendencies toward diversity in your gait, in your dreams, and most especially in your repeated persistence in"--the Elder cleared his throat--"making music."Branded a deviant--and therefore a threat--to the utopian society of Conformity, Harmony, and Tranquility that exists in the year 2407, Gemm 16884 is given the choice between being recycled or undergoing a painful and mysterious cure. Gemm chooses the cure, and suddenly finds himself living the life of Johannes, a 16-year-old Jewish musician in starsbourg, Germany, in 1348, at the onset of the Black Death. As the pestilence spreads, the townspeople begin to accuse the Jews of causing the disease. Surrounded by hatred and horror, Johannes struggles to hold on to his family and faith as well as his belief in the basic goodness of human beings. But can he return to the future and become Gemm again after having known such emotions as pain. . .and love?

Eyrbyggja Saga


UnknownPaul Edwards
    It dramatizes a 13th century view of the past, from the pagan anarchy of the Viking age to the settlement of Iceland, the coming of Christianity and the beginnings of organized society.

Herland, The Yellow Wall-Paper, and Selected Writings


Charlotte Perkins Gilman - 1915
    In her works of fiction, Gilman sought to illustrate her ideas about the way American society squandered the talents and economic contributions of women. Based on the nervous breakdown she suffered during her own disastrous first marriage, The Yellow Wall-Paper is her classic story about a woman who goes mad when the rest-cure treatment she undergoes forbids her any kind of work.Herland, Gilman's most famous novel, is a feminist utopian comedy in which three men stumble upon a society of women that has banished men. Also included in this Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics edition is a selection of Gilman's poetry and other short fiction. Gilman scholar Denise D. Knight has written an enlightening Introduction that explores Gilman's use of the utopian form, satire, and fantasy to provide a critique of women's place in society and to propose creative solutions.

Boys and Girls


Alice Munro - 1964
    That is, he raised silver foxes, in pens; and in the fall and early winter, when their fur was prime, he killed them and skinned them and sold their pelts to the Hudson's Bay Company or the Montreal Fur Traders...

The Prince


Niccolò Machiave - 2017
    The Prince -- Description of the methods adopted by the Duke Valentino when murdering Vitellozzo Vitelli, Oliverotto da Fermo, the Signor Pagolo, and the Duke di Gravina Orsini -- The life of Castruccio Castracani of Lucca.

Arts and Ideas


William Fleming - 1955
    Using lively anecdotes, Fleming shows how the styles are linked together by common purposes, themes, and ideas.

The Wit and Wisdom of Jane Austen


Jane Austen - 2002
    She also muses on romantic innocence, self-delusion, gullibility, greed, snobbery, rudeness, arrogance, obsequiousness, and other subjects. Above all her comments center on the antics of those seeking well-connected and well-appointed husbands, and their efforts to elbow out their less "suitable" rivals.Perfect for browsing and highly quotable, this beautifully decorated volume will delight Austen devotees, as well as readers less familiar with her life and work.