The deceptive, crooked path that led him to today began a few months back. Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, nineteen-year old Fleming was a professional baseball pitcher with the Chicago White Sox. His successful first year in the minor leagues was waylaid when he received his draft notice. Through a series of misadventures, he ended up enlisting for four years in an elite unit called the A.S.A. or Army Security Agency; the army’s equivalent to the N.S.A. or the National Security Agency. Once in the army, Fleming learned that the recruiter had manipulated him with a host of untruths. Then, to his dismay, he learned that the army had lost his orders and he was placed in an infantry unit. Once in Vietnam, Platoon Sergeant, Levine questioned Fleming and dragged out of him the sad story of how he had enlisted for four years and ended up in an infantry unit. He became the butt of the platoon’s jokes and underwent vicious ribbing by the other platoon members. That day, the platoon was ordered back to their base camp: L.Z. English. Before leaving, they endured a mortar attack and then a ground probe. Fleming’s foxhole mate was critically wounded. Fleming did everything he could to save the man but his wounds were too severe and he died in Fleming’s arms. Repulsed by the ordeal, Fleming was left wondering if he could endure a whole year of this. Twelve-year old Van Phan Duc and his two friends twelve-year old Hoi Anh Vanh and Dan Tri Quang lived happily in their village until the day a N.V.A. invaded and forced them to join their struggle and fight the invading Americans. They were then assigned to a Viet Cong unit where they met Sergeant Chi, the man who would train them to be soldiers for the revolution and lead them into battle. Three American soldiers had been captured. Chi ordered the three boys to participate in brutally torturing the Americans. Dan embraced the torture and it turned him into a brutal fighting machine, much to Chi’s satisfaction. On the other hand, Hoi was repulsed by the events and a part of him died that day. He performed the torture but it wasn’t to Chi’s satisfaction. Van, a devout Buddhist, was also repulsed. He realized that life, as a soldier was three hundred and sixty degrees opposite of Buddha’s spiritual path. The 173rd’s area of operations was the Central Highlands. The 173rd’s home base was in and around the town of Bong Son, but they patrolled all over the province of Binh Dinh. For the next few months, Fleming and Van’s units met on numerous occasions. The first time they engaged each other in combat was in a simple ambush that lasted only two minutes. Both men were left repulsed by the carnage that could take place in only two minutes. Right after the ambush, Fleming’s company was deployed in a battalion-sized operation located in the Dak To mountain range. It was an area where numerous North Vietnamese soldiers infiltrated into South Vietnam from neighboring Cambodia and Laos. Fleming’s company was dropped into an area far from Dak To and the men were forced to march (hump) to their final destination. During the trek, they had to carve their way through impenetrable jungle and cross leach infested rivers to reach their destination, all the while suffering under Vietnam’s oppressive heat. Van’s Viet Cong unit was sent to the Dak To mountain range to do battle with Fleming and his company. Months passed with Van and Fleming’s units constantly meeting. Both men had similar personalities. Both men overcame their initial shock at war’s brutality and became highly competent soldiers who bravely fought the enemy. Both men were ultimately made into squad leaders. Both men continued to hate the war, yet were entrapped in the insanity that was war. They both recognized what war was—a brutally insane series of events where lives were lost and where dreams died.

    Ramanan is dramatic pastoral elegy and it is beautifully illustrated by Artist Madanan.

    

    Stephen Cox, professor of literatureat the University of California at San Diego, spoke on "The LiteraryAchievement of The Fountainhead" and David Kelley, executive director of TheObjectivist Center, discussed "The Code of the Creator." This commemorativemonograph contains the text of both lectures and other material about AynRand's classic novel.

    The action-packed storylines retain all the impact of the authors' own words; photos and narrative illustrations help readers to absorb the full flavor of the original novels. Fact-filled boxes examine the books' themes, characters, and each author's life and times. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea includes a map of the journey and explores marine life and oceanography in Jules Verne's time. A specially researched map of Crusoe's exotic island gives facts on its flora and fauna.

    Included are also links to free audiobook verions of the novels.Edith Wharton was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and designer. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1927, 1928 and 1930.Wharton combined her insider's view of America's privileged classes with a brilliant, natural wit to write humorous, incisive novels and short stories of social and psychological insight. She was well acquainted with many of her era's other literary and public figures, including Theodore Roosevelt. Novels included: •The Touchstone, 1900•The Valley of Decision, 1902•Sanctuary, 1903•The House of Mirth, 1905•Madame de Treymes, 1907•The Fruit of the Tree, 1907•Ethan Frome, 1911•The Reef, 1912•The Custom of the Country, 1913•Bunner Sisters, 1916•Summer, 1917•The Marne, 1918•The Age of Innocence, 1920 (Pulitzer Prize winner)•The Glimpses of the Moon, 1922 Free audiobooks available for: •The Touchstone, 1900•The Valley of Decision, 1902 - not available as audiobook at this time•Sanctuary, 1903•The House of Mirth, 1905•Madame de Treymes, 1907•The Fruit of the Tree, 1907•Ethan Frome, 1911•The Reef, 1912•The Custom of the Country, 1913•Bunner Sisters, 1916•Summer, 1917 - not available as audiobook at this time•The Marne, 1918•The Age of Innocence, 1920 (Pulitzer Prize winner)•The Glimpses of the Moon, 1922Enjoy!

    Though brought together in a friendship that neither jealousy nor violence could shatter, the Hazards and the Mains are torn apart by the storm of events that has divided the nation. "Superb! You will gain a firsthand knowledge of life at West Point in the early 1800s...a peek at the Texas frontier, a vacation in a posh cottage at Newport...experience the savagery of war in Mexico, suffer the suspense of both the Charleston Battery and beleaguered Fort Sumter before the mortar fire that launched a war. It has been a long time since I enjoyed a book so much." (The Asheville Citizen-Times)

     Witch World The first book in the classic Witch World saga by beloved fantasy and science fiction author Andre Norton. Simon Tregarth, a man on the run, escapes from our world into another, where magic still has power. He finds new purpose in the service of Estcarp, whose witches use their ancient knowledge of magic to protect their home. But a new threat is rising: the mysterious Kolder, who possess powers and technology unlike anything known in the Witch World. It will take Simon and the forces of Estcarp all their might, their courage, and their magic to drive back the insurmountable enemy. Web of the Witch World Fantasy and science fiction Grand Master Andre Norton’s Witch World saga continues in Web of the Witch World. After repulsing the Kolder, the land of Estcarp is safe, until a sudden disappearance sends Simon Tregarth and his allies on a quest to stop an enigmatic new danger. Though the Kolder were defeated before, they rise again with a vengeance, and their plot is even more sinister than before. From Karsten in the south to the swamps of Tor to the Kolder’s impenetrable stronghold and beyond, Simon must fight to stop the invaders of his adopted home once and for all. Year of the Unicorn Year Of the Unicorn returns to Andre Norton’s Witch World with a tale of adventure and magic. The orphan Gillan grew up in an abbey in High Hallack, always knowing she was different and never feeling at home. When the lords of High Hallack pledge twelve brides to the Were Riders in exchange for their protection, Gillan is faced with an opportunity few would consider: to take the place of one of the twelve chosen women and go off to parts unknown to marry one of these strange wild men. But Gillan leaps at the chance to leave the only home she has ever known in the hopes of finding something she was meant to do. And her rare gift to see through illusions that fool others will prove vital in a journey where nothing is as it seems.

    

    The major theme is the dictatorship of the state and discrimination suffered by the immigrant Nepalese. Thule and Satar, the major characters represent thousands of poor, innocent and illiterate Nepali youths who flee their homes every year with the dream of better quality of life but their dreams get shattered in the hands of frauds and tyrants in the alien land. Various well known authors and critics like Parijat and Michael Hutt have spent words to praise the magic the twenty one year old author cast on the audience in those days and even now.For Parijat, Muglãn is “the second novel I have read in a single breath, within a decade. Unless the language, style, presentation is good, it becomes difficult to read any literature”. Muglan, however, is criticized for being too pessimistic in tone and exaggerating the then existing circumstances. Muglan has been rendered into English from Nepali by Lekhnath Sharma Pathak.

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    Filled with dark humor and an unforgettable cast of characters Oliver Twist, Fagin, Nancy, Bill Sykes, and the Artful Dodger, to name a few Dickens's second novel is a compelling social satire that has remained popular since it was first serialized in 1837-39. The text for this Modern Library Paperback Classic is taken from the 1846 New Edition, revised and corrected by the author. It includes new explanatory notes and an appendix, A Brief History of the English Poor Laws.

    

    Titles in this collection are: The Lost Symbol, Digital Fortress, Angel & Demons, Deception Point, The Davinci Code Dan Brown is the bestselling author of Digital Fortress, Deception Point, Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code. He is a graduate of Amherst College and Phillips Exeter Academy, where he has taught English and creative writing. He lives in New England.

    R. James is best remembered for his ghost stories which are widely regarded as among the finest in English literature. One of James' most important achievements was to redefine the ghost story for the new century by dispensing with many of the formal gothic trappings of his predecessors, and replacing them with more realistic contemporary settings.According to James, a story must "put the reader into the position of saying to himself: 'If I'm not careful, something of this kind may happen to me!'"