In this collection of correspondence—letters to publishers, editors, friends, and fellow writers—the writer shares his insights on the art of creation.On Writing reveals an artist brutally frank about the drudgery of work and canny and uncompromising about the absurdities of life—and of art. It illuminates the hard-edged, complex humanity of a true American legend and counterculture icon—the “laureate of American lowlife” (Time)—who stoically recorded society’s downtrodden and depraved. It exposes an artist grounded in the visceral, whose work reverberates with his central ideal: “Don't try.”Piercing, poignant, and often hilarious, On Writing is filled not only with memorable lines but also with Bukowski’s trademark toughness, leavened with moments of grace, pathos, and intimacy.

    Laura Ingalls Wilder -- beloved author of one of the world's most treasured children's series, the Little House books -- wrote articles on a dizzying array of topics; articles that sparkle with her timeless wit and wisdom. Her interesting and insightful views on the changes motor cars and highways brought to her small town; the need to conserve natural resources; the role of women in the work force and in politics -- nothing seemed to escape her keen observation. With a foresight that is astounding, Wilder's many articles examine in depth the ways of life in this country during the late 1800s and early 1900s with a wisdom that holds relevance for our lives even today.

    I. Gurdjieff is a man who would continually straddle borders-between East and West, between man and something higher than man, between the ancient teachings of esoteric schools and the modern application of those ideas in contemporary life.In many respects-from the concept of group meetings to the mysterious workings of the enneagram to his critique of humanity as existing in a state of sleep-Gurdjieff pioneered the culture of spiritual search that has taken root in the West today. While many of Gurdjieff's students-including Frank Lloyd Wright, Katharine Mansfield, and P. D. Ouspensky-are well known, few understand this figure possessed of complex writings and sometimes confounding methods. In Gurdjieff: An Introduction to His Life and Ideas, the acclaimed novelist John Shirley-one of the founders of the cyberpunk genre-presents a lively, reliable explanation of how to approach the sage and his ideas. In accessible, dramatic prose Shirley retells that which we know of Gurdjieff's life; he surveys the teacher's methods and the lives of his key students; and he helps readers to enter the unparalleled originality of this remarkable teacher.

    These are stories that passed down through the ages virtually unaltered in their telling. To those who told and listened to them, they expressed something fundamental about Irish culture and the Irish way of life. The stories in this volume feature a wide variety of fantastic beings, including ghosts, witches, fairies, and changelings, but several feature creatures that are virtually exclusive to Ireland: the banshee, the merrow, the pooka, and the leprechaun. Read these tales of frightening supernatural horrors, brave folk heroes, and everyday people clever enough to outwith the devil, and you'll agree that they could only take place on Irish soil.

    Extremely popular with readers of the day, the Almanack was a fascinating compilation of weather predictions, recipes, jokes, and delightful aphorisms - many representing Franklin's common-sense philosophy, and others, proverbs from the past.This handy little volume presents hundreds of these charming maxims, carefully selected from a number of Franklin's "almanacks." Arranged in nearly 30 categories (eating and drinking, men, women, and marriage; friendship; money and frugalitiy; religion; professions and occupations, etc.), they include suck familiar phrases as:Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.Haste makes waste.Love your Neighbour; yet don't pull down your Hedge.He that lies down with Dogs, shall rise up with fleas.Hunger never saw bad bread.He's a Fool that makes his Doctor his Heir.He that has not got a Wife, is not yet a compleat Man.An ideal sourcebook for writers, public speakers, and students, this practical and entertaining little book will also delight general reads with its rich store of time-honored fold wisdom.

    Pater was shocked at the reaction his book inspired: 'I wish they would not call me a hedonist, it gives such a wrong impression to those who do not know Greek.'.The book had begun as a series of idiosyncratic, impressionistic critical essays on those artists that embodied for him the spirit of the Renaissance; by collecting them and adding his infamous Conclusion, Pater gained a reputation as a daring modern philosopher. But The Renaissance survives as one of the most innovative pieces of cultural criticism to emerge from the nineteenth century.

    1008 at the height of the Heian period, Lady Sarashina (as she is known) probably wrote most of her work towards the end of her life, long after the events described. Thwarted and saddened by the real world with all its deaths and partings and frustrations, Lady Sarashina protected herself by a barrier of fantasy and so escaped from harsh reality into a rosier more congenial realm. She presents her vision of the world in beautiful prose, the sentences flowing along smoothly so that we feel we are watching a magnificent scroll being slowly unrolled.'It is like seeing a garden at night in which certain parts are lit up so brightly that we can distinguish each blade of grass, each minute insect, each nuance of colour, while the rest of the garden and the tidal wave that threatens it remain in darkness'--Ivan Morris

    Spence's meticulous research has, perhaps most notably, uncovered evidence that Austen and the charming young Irishman Tom Lefroy fell in love at the age of twenty and that the relationship inspired Pride and Prejudice, one of the most celebrated works of fiction ever written. Becoming Jane Austen gives the fullest account we have of the romance, which was more serious and more enduring than previously believed. Seeing this love story in the context of Jane Austen's whole life enables us to appreciate the profound effect the relationship had on her art and on subsequent choices that she made in her life.Full of insight and with an attentive eye for detail, Spence explores Jane Austen's emotional attachments and the personal influences that shaped her as a novelist. His elegant narrative provides a point of entry into Jane Austen's world as she herself perceived and experienced it. It is a world familiar to us from her novels, but in Becoming Jane Austen, Austen herself is the heroine.

    In the course of the essay, Tolstoy shows different attempts to find answers on the examples of science, philosophy, eastern wisdom, and the opinions of his fellow novelists. . . . finding no workable solution in any of these, Tolstoy recognizes the deep religious convictions of ordinary people as containing the key to true answers. The first attempt at its publication took place in 1882 (Russkaya Mysl, No 5), but Tolstoy's work was removed virtually from the whole edition of the journal by Orthodox Church censorship. The text was later published in Geneva (1884), in Russia as late as 1906 (Vsemirnyj Vestnik, No 1).

    This superb collection contains excellent contemporary translations selected for their clarity and accessibility to today's reader, as well as an incisive introduction by Erich Segal, which reveals Plato's life and clarifies the philosophical issues examined in each dialogue. The first four dialogues recount the trial execution of Socrates--the extraordinary tragedy that changed Plato's life and so altered the course of Western though. Other dialogues create a rich tableau of intellectual life in Athens in the fourth century B.C., and examine the nature of virtue and love, knowledge and truth, society and the individual. Resounding with the humor and astounding brilliance of Socrates, the immortal iconoclast, these great works remain powerful, probing, and essential.Alternate Edition of ISBN-10: 0553213717

    A retelling of The Canterbury Tales

    Since that time, all levels of military have used the teaching on Sun Tzu to warfare and civilization have adapted these teachings for use in politics, business and everyday life. The Art of War is a book which should be used to gain advantage of opponents in the boardroom and battlefield alike.

    Ranging from the 19th to the 20th centuries, writers include James Augustine Aloysius Joyce, Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, Richard Edward Connell, Henri Nathaniel Hawthorne, Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, Jack London, Henri Ringgold Wilmer Lardner, Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant and Edgar Allan Poe.

    THE COMPLETE SHERLOCK HOLMESA STUDY IN SCARLETPART IPART 2THE SIGN OF FOURTHE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMESA SCANDAL IN BOHEMIATHE RED-HEADED LEAGUEA CASE OF IDENTITYTHE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERYTHE FIVE ORANGE PIPSTHE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIPTHE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLETHE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BANDTHE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER’S THUMBTHE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELORTHE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONETTHE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHESTHE MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMESSILVER BLAZETHE YELLOW FACETHE STOCK-BROKER’S CLERKTHE “GLORIA SCOTT”THE MUSGRAVE RITUALTHE REIGATE PUZZLETHE CROOKED MANTHE RESIDENT PATIENTTHE GREEK INTERPRETERTHE NAVAL TREATYTHE FINAL PROBLEMTHE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLESMR. SHERLOCK HOLMESTHE CURSE OF THE BASKERVILLESTHE PROBLEMSIR HENRY BASKERVILLETHREE BROKEN THREADSBASKERVILLE HALLTHE STAPLETONS OF MERRIPIT HOUSEFIRST REPORT OF DR. WATSONSECOND REPORT OF DR. WATSONEXTRACT FROM THE DIARY OF DR. WATSONTHE MAN ON THE TORDEATH ON THE MOORFIXING THE NETSTHE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLESA RETROSPECTIONTHE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMESTHE ADVENTURE OF THE ABBEY GRANGETHE ADVENTURE OF BLACK PETERTHE ADVENTURE OF CHARLES AUGUSTUS MILVERTONTHE ADVENTURE OF THE DANCING MENTHE ADVENTURE OF THE EMPTY HOUSETHE ADVENTURE OF THE GOLDEN PINCE-NEZTHE ADVENTURE OF THE MISSING THREE-QUARTERTHE ADVENTURE OF THE NORWOOD BUILDERTHE ADVENTURE OF THE PRIORY SCHOOLTHE ADVENTURE OF THE SECOND STAINTHE ADVENTURE OF THE SIX NAPOLEONSTHE ADVENTURE OF THE SOLITARY CYCLISTTHE ADVENTURE OF THE THREE STUDENTSTHE VALLEY OF FEARHIS LAST BOWTHE CASE BOOK OF SHERLOCK HOLMES2. TALES OF TERROR AND MYSTERYTHE HORROR OF THE HEIGHTSTHE LEATHER FUNNELTHE NEW CATACOMBTHE CASE OF LADY SANNOXTHE TERROR OF BLUE JOHN GAPTHE BRAZILIAN CATTHE LOST SPECIALTHE BEETLE-HUNTERTHE MAN WITH THE WATCHESTHE JAPANNED BOXTHE BLACK DOCTORTHE JEW’S BREASTPLATEWHY BUY BOOKS FROM THE COMPLETE WORKS COLLECTION FOR NOOK EDITION?1. All COMPLETE WORKS COLLECTION Nook Books are priced as low as possible in order to offer unbelievable value and hours of reading pleasure for Nook readers. All COMPLETE WORKS COLLECTION Nook Books bring together ALL the complete works of a classic literary author, character or series in a single, extremely low priced volume in a single download, thereby freeing up valuable space and visual clutter on your Nook device.2. All COMPLETE WORKS COLLECTION Nook Books contain a FULLY INTERACTIVE table of contents DIRECTLY ACCESSIBLE and Nook Free Lending Technology3. All COMPLETE WORKS COLLECTION Nook Books come with additional material including photo(s) of the author, and/or critical commentary, and/or biographical or historical background information.THE CASEBOOK OF SHERLOCK HOLMES IS PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT IN THE UNITED STATES AND IS PUBLISHED AS PART OF THIS COLLECTION IN ARRANGEMENT WITH THE CONAN DOYLE ESTATE, LTD.

    Kelly illuminates the radical subjects--slavery, poverty, feminism, the Church, evolution, among them--considered treasonous at the time, that Austen deftly explored in the six novels that have come to embody an age. The author reveals just how in the novels we find the real Jane Austen: a clever, clear-sighted woman "of information," fully aware of what was going on in the world and sure about what she thought of it. We see a writer who understood that the novel--until then seen as mindless "trash"--could be a great art form and who, perhaps more than any other writer up to that time, imbued it with its particular greatness.