Uses the narrative of a mock travel writer to explore exotic and imaginary locations. This book mounts a scathing attack on the morals, politics and learning of the 18th century, culminating in possib
In an interview, Updike once said, "If I had to give anybody one book of me, it would be the Olinger Stories." This title follows the life of one character from the age of ten through manhood, in the
Offers an account of author's work with Guy Bolton in musical comedy, which occupied much of his energy from his arrival in America and effectively made his reputation.
Set in the bleak Fen Country of East Anglia, and spanning some 240 years in the lives of its haunted narrator and his ancestors, this book takes in eels and incest, ale-making and madness, the heartle
An obsessive German professor and his nephew travel towards the earth's core in the steps of a medieval explorer beneath an Icelandic volcano where they discover a lost world.
The author was one of the foremost American novelists of the early twentieth century born in Virginia but grew up in Nebraska. Before she wrote the novels that would make her famous, she was known as
Three American sisters leave their chicken farm on Long Island for a holiday in Europe. In France they encounter the charming but penniless Marquis de Maufringneuse, his writer son Jeff, and the marqu
Baron Munchausen’s absurd adventures have entertained adults and children alike for more than two centuries. First published in England in 1785, his traveller’s tales soon became as well known as thos
Major Brendan Archer travels to Ireland in the aftermath of World War I in order to meet his fiancee Angela in a remote seaside hotel owned by her father. Angela dies unexpectedly, but Archer remains
Northern Lights introduces Lyra, an orphan, who lives in a parallel universe in which science, theology and magic are entwined. Lyra's search for a kidnapped friend uncovers a sinister plot involving
Sally leaves her boarding-house at last, and looks forward to a quiet life in a small apartment. Instead, she finds herself swept up in a series of adventures with her ambitious brother, an accident-p
Freddie Widgeon wants the money to buy shares in a coffee plantation in Kenya so that he can marry Sally Foster. Soapy and Dolly Molloy want to get their hands on a cache of stolen jewels hidden in th
Chesterton wrote some of the best nonsense and satirical verse in the language. In this book, the main bias of the selection, however, will be towards Chesterton's non-fictional prose, where, the auth
A century of imitation has done nothing to diminish the vampire's power. The suave and chilling Count stalks his prey from a crumbling castle in the Carpathians to a lunatic asylum in Purfleet and the
Includes "Things Fall Apart", "No Longer at Ease", and "Arrow of God". In "Things Fall Apart" the individual tragedy of Okonkwo, 'strong man' and tribal elder in the Nigeria of the 1890s is intertwine
The youthful hero, armed with a commission in the 11th Dragoons, is shipped to India, woos and wins the beautiful Elspeth, and reluctantly takes part in the first Anglo-Afghan War, honing a remarkable
"The Decameron" (subtitle: "Prencipe Galeotto") is a collection of 100 novellas by Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio, probably begun in 1350 and finished in 1353. It is a medieval allegorical work bes
"In 1956, Updike published a story, "Snowing in Greenwich Village," about a young couple, Joan and Richard Maple, at the beginning of their marriage. Over the next two decades, he returned to these ch
Love is a powerful spur, and Cyril Fotheringay-Phipps (known to his friends as Barmy) invests his modest fortune in a stage production, encouraged by his admiration for the delectable Miss Dinty Moore
On the day of his wedding, Edmond Dantes, master mariner, is arrested in Marseille on trumped-up charges and spirited away to the cellars of the Chateau d'If, an impregnable sea fortress in which he i
Marco Polo's book was one of the best-loved works of the Middle Ages, and has remained popular ever since. This book explains the references in the book, and shows in detail with maps the routes descr
A best seller in his lifetime, Edwin Arlington Robinson is due to be restored to his rightful place in literary history as one of the first of the great American Modernist poets. His lyric poems illum
From his birth in 1923 to his belated paternity and public apotheosis as a septuagenarian in 1999, Bech plugs away, globetrotting in the company of foreign dignitaries one day and schlepping in tatter
Roald Dahl is well known as a master of the macabre and the unexpected in the tradition of Saki. This volume includes the stories in chronological order as established by Dahl's biographer, Jeremy Tre
From her appearance in a small magazine in 1906 to her death in 1965, Anna Akhmatova was a dominant presence in Russian literary life. She was a poet in a country where poetry was literally a matter o
R K Narayan witnessed nearly a century of change in his native India and captured it in fiction of warmth and vibrancy. This book features stories such as "Swami and Friends", "The Bachelor of Arts",
Presents the full range of humanity in fair weather and foul. In nine of Wodehouse's ripest stories from the 1920s, the characters are united by their worship of golf, from Rodney Spelvin, the romanti
Contains two small masterpieces in one volume. In the disastrous love affairs and gambling adventures of Alexei Ivanovich, the author explores the irresistible temptation to look into the abyss of ult
It is the autobiography of Giorgio Bassani, told in a time span of around 15 years, a time where the ambiguous and mysterious female figure of Micol was a central part of his life. They live in a time where racial laws are being passed by fascist Italy and as a result Micol and her family open the gates of their huge mansion and even bigger garden to a handful of jeweish friends that have been banned from any recreational activity. In this garden Micol guides the narrating "I" figure through the interior journey in search of his identity and maturity.Unfortunately this journey of truth can only end but in the sourest way; the rejection of a deep love felt by the author for Micol, his spiritual guide.
A sanitorium in the Swiss Alps reflects the societal ills of pre-twentieth-century Europe, and a young marine engineer rises from his life of anonymity to become a pivotal character in a story about h
We begin - at the turn of the century, in an unnamed South American country - in the childhood home of the woman who will be the mother and grandmother of the clan, Clara del Valle.
Ralph Waldo Emerson is one of the best-loved figures in nineteenth-century American literature. Though he earned his central place in our culture as an essayist and philosopher, since his death his re
When Jimmy falls for a girl in London and vows to reform himself as a result, the quest for love leads him to his Aunt Nesta's house in New York, where his escapades involve impersonating himself and
Jeeves suggests a small bottle of champagne in the library. Bertie Wooster's happiness seeems to know no bounds until destiny comes in through the French window. When confusion and panic reign, disast
Pongo Twistleton is in a state of financial embarrassment, again. Uncle Fred, meanwhile, has been asked by Lord Emsworth to foil a plot to steal the Empress, his prize pig. Along with Polly Pott (daug
