A wonderful collection of tales by Bret Harte, including The Luck of the Roaring Camp, first published in the August 1868 issue of the Overland Monthly and which helped push Harte to international prominence. The story is about the birth of a baby boy in a 19th century gold prospecting camp. The boy\'s mother, Cherokee Sal, dies in childbirth, so the men of Roaring Camp must raise it themselves. Believing the child to be a good luck charm, the miners christen the boy Thomas Luck. Afterwards, they decide to refine their behavior and refrain from gambling and fighting. At the end of the story, however, Luck and a villager, Kentuck, perish in a flash flood that strikes the camp. The flood theme may have come from the Great Flood of California, witnessed by Harte in 1862, which resulted from weeks of torrential rains throughout the entire state, combined with warming temperatures in mid January that melted the snowpack. In addition to the melt-waters, according to the Sacramento Union newspapers of the day, six to ten feet of rain fell in some mining areas near Grass Valley. Views: 325
In this charming middle grade novel that's perfect for fans of Tim Federle and Gordon Korman, Zadie is determined to spend the summer helping at the community theater—but things go hilariously awry!Zadie loves Tae Kwon Do, comic books, and outer space. She also loves visiting the community theater that her mom runs, especially the lighting grid over the stage and the stage manager's booth, which is filled with levers and buttons like a spaceship control panel. So when the family's finances suffer a blow and Zadie has to give up her usual activities to spend the summer at the theater, she doesn't mind too much. After all, she's always wanted to tech a show. She knows she'd be great at it, but her mom and the new stage manager are totally opposed to the idea of having a kid do tech. Instead, Zadie's stuck handing out snacks and folding flyers. But the future of the theater rides on this show, and Zadie is determined to help. She's going to make... Views: 325
This collection of literature attempts to compile many of the classic works that have stood the test of time and offer them at a reduced, affordable price, in an attractive volume so that everyone can enjoy them. Views: 324
Winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, Chickadee is the first novel of a new arc in the critically acclaimed Birchbark House series by New York Times bestselling author Louise Erdrich.
Twin brothers Chickadee and Makoons have done everything together since they were born—until the unthinkable happens and the brothers are separated.
Desperate to reunite, both Chickadee and his family must travel across new territories, forge unlikely friendships, and experience both unexpected moments of unbearable heartache as well as pure happiness. And through it all, Chickadee has the strength of his namesake, the chickadee, to carry him on.
Chickadee continues the story of one Ojibwe family's journey through one hundred years in America. School Library Journal, in a starred review, proclaimed, "Readers will be more than happy to welcome little Chickadee into their hearts."
The paperback edition includes additional material, such as an interview with the author and activities. Views: 324
One of the few of William Faulkner’s works to be set outside his fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Pylon, first published in 1935, takes place at an air show in a thinly disguised New Orleans named New Valois. An unnamed reporter for a local newspaper tries to understand a very modern ménage a trois of flyers on the brainstorming circuit. These characters, Faulkner said, “were a fantastic and bizarre phenomenon on the face of the contemporary scene. . . . That is, there was really no place for them in the culture, in the economy, yet they were there, at that time, and everyone knew that they wouldn’t last very long, which they didn’t. . . . That they were outside the range of God, not only of respectability, of love, but of God too.” In Pylon Faulkner set out to test their rootless modernity to see if there is any place in it for the old values of the human heart that are the central concerns of his best fiction. Views: 323
When the Selfish Giant decides to build a wall around his garden to prevent the children from playing in it, it becomes barren and stuck in perpertual winter. It takes a wonderful event and the heart of a young boy for him to realize the error of his ways. A classic tale for children, 'The Selfish Giant' is presented here with all of Oscar Wilde's other fairy stories - 'The Happy Prince', 'The Nightingale and the Rose', 'The Devoted Friend', 'The Remarkable Rocket', 'The Young King', 'The Birthday of the Infanta', 'The Fisherman and His Soul' and 'The Star-Child' - brought to life by Philip Waechter's bright and imaginative illustrations. Illustrated by Philip Waechter, this edition contains extra material and activities for young readers. Views: 323
Which of them it was that guided me, before even I could read, to the little room dark with holly trees that had been of old my uncle's library, I know not. Perhaps at the instant it chanced there had fallen a breathless truce between them, and I being solitary, my own instinct took me. But having once found that pictured haven, I had found somewhat of content. I think half my youthful days passed in that low, book-walled chamber. The candles I burned through those long years of evening would deck Alps' hugest fir; the dust I disturbed would very easily fill again the measure that some day shall contain my own; and the small studious thumbmarks that paced, as if my footprints, leaf by leaf of that long journey, might be the history of life's experience in little,—from clearer, to clear, to faint—how very faint at last! Views: 323
**All three parts of William Shakespeare's *Henry VI* are combined in this Signet Classics edition of the Bard's historical play.
**When his father dies, young Henry VI ascends to the English throne. What comes next is a complex, thrilling tale of rivalry, betrayal, and war...
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**This revised Signet Classics edition includes unique features such as:
• All three parts of Shakespeare's play, each with their own introduction
• An overview of Shakespeare's life, world, and theater
• Dramatic criticism from Samuel Johnson, E.M.W. Tillyard, J.P. Brockbank, Sir Barry Jackson, Hermann Ulrici, Phyllis Rackin, and Ralph Fiennes
• A comprehensive stage and screen history of notable actors, directors, and productions
• Text, notes, and commentaries printed in the clearest, most readable text
• And more...**
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Fourteen 14-line poems by Bill Yarrow; selected + arranged by Matthew S. Barton; Naked Mannekin Press, Chicago, 2011; OUP. Eyes off the Road, Hitting the Wall, Bogdan, Love and How It Gets That Way, Joan of Dark, Stevie’s Knees, George, Nothing Beside Remains, Four Noble Lies, The Proud Accounting, Uncle Moscow, Raw Salt, Gabrielle in Arrears, Picking the Bark off Experience.Fourteen fourteen-line poems by Bill Yarrow selected and arranged by Matthew S. Barton. Originally published by Naked Mannekin Press in 2011. OUP. 1. Eyes off the Road. 2. Hitting the Wall. 3. Bogdan. 4. Love and How It Gets That Way. 5. Joan of Dark. 6. Stevie’s Knees. 7. George. 8. Nothing Beside Remains. 9. Four Noble Lies. 10. The Proud Accounting. 11. Uncle Moscow. 12. Raw Salt. 13. Gabrielle in Arrears. 14. Picking the Bark off Experience.You should be calling 911, wavingat headlights, flagging down trucks, pullingyour bleeding husband from the car. Insteadyou’re just staring at your hands as if somehowthey were imperious tools capable of magic.(from "Gabrielle in Arrears") Views: 322
This Book which has 50 differently titled Poems , is actually volume 1 of the Book titled – Life = Death – Poems on Life , Death ( 1200 pages ) .This enigmatic collection of poems explores and equates the boundless possibilities of life and death and delves into each intricate inexplicability of survival. Parekh's roving philosophical eye brings the unconquerable richness of life to the fore and yet at the same time explicitly highlights the veracity of 'death' as the absolute certainty of every existence. The poet joyously celebrates the occasions of both life and death with equal panache in each poetic stanza sewn with the uncanny mysteries of this Universe. The poems within immortalize both life and death as the ultimate victories and the two most contrastingly amazing and divine sides of creation. Catapulting the reader to the threshold of ultimate ecstasy; they bring about an impromptu twist with the closure of breath and what lies beyond. This charismatically woven collection of poetic verse would equally enamor the narcissist as well as the simple humanitarian to the core.This book is a humble attempt to enlighten the readers with the equality of life and death-and to live in both of them to the most unparalleled fullest. Embracing only the religion of humanity, as the Lord has commanded every living being on earth. You cant die in life and cant live in death-each of these components are irrefutably equal in every respect and should be worshipped with due obeisance. Views: 322
Set in 1960s New York, this is the story of the opening of The Starlight Diner. A romantic, retro read with a dark undertow.Next time you’re in New York, take a turn off Broadway onto East Houston Street. There, you’ll see it: The Starlight Diner. A retro eatery curious enough to delight tourists and locals alike. Fifties tunes stream out of the jukebox long into the night, and it serves the tastiest milkshakes in the five boroughs.Set in 1963, this is the story of the opening of The Starlight Diner. A darkly romantic read with a retro edge. Views: 322
William Shakespeare's comedy Love's Labours Lost is edited with an introduction by John Kerrigan in Penguin Shakespeare. 'What fool is not so wise To lose an oath to win a paradise?' Ferdinand, King of Navarre and his lords Berowne, Dumaine, and Longaville agree to form an austere academy, taking a solemn to have no contact with women for three years. But when the Princess of neighbouring France arrives with her female attendants, their pledge is quickly placed under strain. Soon all are in smitten and confusion abounds, as each struggles to secretly declare his love in this comedy of deception, desire and mistaken identity. This book contains a general introduction to Shakespeare's life and Elizabethan theatre, a separate introduction to Love's Labours Lost, a chronology, suggestions for further reading, an essay discussing performance options on both stage and screen, and a commentary. William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden some time in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He wrote about 38 plays (the precise number is uncertain), many of which are regarded as the most exceptional works of drama ever produced, including Romeo and Juliet (1595), Henry V (1599), Hamlet (1601), Othello (1604), King Lear (1606) and Macbeth (1606), as well as a collection of 154 sonnets, which number among the most profound and influential love-poetry in English. If you enjoyed Love's Labours Lost, you might like The Merry Wives of Windsor, also available in Penguin Shakespeare. 'The most beautiful of Shakespeare's comedies' Kenneth Branagh Views: 322
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. Views: 321
In his novels, poetry, and memoirs, Booker Prize winner Michael Ondaatje moves from the blasted landscape of Billy the Kid in 1880s New Mexico to the New Orleans jazz world of the legendary Buddy Bolden at the turn of the century, from his native Sri Lanka to the African desert of World War II. Compassionate, lyrical, spellbinding, the work he has created unfolds with mystery and eloquence and enlarges our literature.
Included in Vintage Ondaatje are portions of the novels Anil’s Ghost, In the Skin of the Lion, Coming Through Slaughter, and* The English Patient; the memoir Running in the *Family; sections from The Collected Works of Billy the Kid; and a selection of the poetry.
Vintage Readers are a perfect introduction to some of the great modern writers, presented in attractive, affordable paperback editions.
From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 321
Peter Camenzind, a young man from a Swiss mountain village, leaves his home and eagerly takes to the road in search of new experience. Traveling through Italy and France, Camenzind is increasingly disillusioned by the suffering he discovers around him; after failed romances and a tragic friendship, his idealism fades into crushing hopelessness. He finds peace again only when he cares for Boppi, an invalid who renews Camenzind's love for humanity and inspires him once again to find joy in the smallest details of every life. Views: 321
