Publisher: Project Gutenberg
The novel takes place in the Yukon Territory in 1893. The main character, nicknamed Burning Daylight was the most successful entrepreneur of the Alaskan Gold Rush. The story of the main character was partially based upon the life of Oakland entrepreneur "Borax" Smith
In this fascinating memoir, Matthew Henson describes the incredibly dangerous, exhausting, and bone-chilling trip to what was until then the never-before reached point on earth, the North Pole."Robert Peary is remembered as the intrepid explorer who successfully reached the North Pole in 1909. Far less celebrated is his companion, Matthew Henson, a black man from Maryland. Henson's gripping memoir, first published in 1912, tells this unsung hero's story in his own words. Henson...was indispensable to the famous explorer's journey; he learned the language of the Eskimos, was an expert dog-sled driver and even built the sleds...." (Publishers Weekly) "An original document.... One of the giants of polar exploration, Henson had the graceful modesty of genuinely big men.... The world would know even more about him now if his commander, Peary, had been less an egotist and more generous in sharing credit for his discovery of the North Pole." (Washington Post Book World)"A really valuable addition to the literature of [polar exploration].... Filled with incident, occupation, description, emotion, [and] comment." (The New York Times)Show book
Italo Calvino imagines a novel capable of endless mutations in this intricately crafted story about writing and readers. If on a Winter's Night a Traveler turns out to be not one novel but ten, each with a different plot, style, ambience, and author, and each interrupted at a moment of suspense. Together they form a labyrinth of literatures, known and unknown, alive and extinct, through which two readers, a male and a female, pursue both the story lines that intrigue them and one another.Show book
This is the great anti-slavery novel that, it is said, convinced many Americans to join the Civil War against the South. Published in 1852, it tells the story of Uncle Tom, a patient, forbearing slave and his misfortunes in a life of being sold from one master to the next.Show book
"The American Claimant is enormous fun. I'm here to celebrate the mad energy of this strange novel. In it we have the pleasure of seeing Mark Twain's imagination go berserk," writes Bobbie Ann Mason in her introduction. The American Claimant is a comedy of mistaken identities and multiple role switches--fertile and familiar Mark Twain territory. Its cast of characters include an American enamored of British hereditary aristocracy and a British earl entranced by American democracy. The central character, Colonel Mulberry Sellers, is an irrepressible, buoyant mad scientist, Mason writes, "brimming with harebrained ideas. Nothing is impossible for him.... He's totally loopy." His voluble wackiness leaves the reader reeling in the wake of inventions that prefigure DNA cloning, fax machines, and photocopiers. Twain uses this over-the-top comic frame to explore some serious issues as well--such as the construction of self and identity, the role of the press in society, and the moral and social questions raised by capitalism and industrialization in the United States. A unique melange of science fiction and fantasy, romance, farce, and political satire, Twain's least-known comic novel is both thought-provoking and entertaining.Show book
William Collins Books and Decca Records are proud to present ARGO Classics, a historic catalogue of classic fiction read by some of the world’s most renowned voices. Originally released as vinyl records, these expertly abridged and remastered stories are now available to download for the first time. During a long hot summer, a young boy’s taste for excitement lands him in and out of trouble. Bing Crosby narrates the coming-of-age tale that made Mark Twain one of America’s best loved novelist with all of Tom’s mischief and fun. Tom catches criminals, gets the girl and carries out hijinks, all with his best friend Huckleberry Finn at his side. Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a literary bestseller that perfectly blends action and satire. This short, Sunday Times bestselling book is a top choice for readers seeking an exciting and thought-provoking read. For fans of Jules Verne (Around the World in Eighty Days), Herman Melville (Bartleby, the Scrivener), Jack London (The Call of the Wild), William Golding (The Spire), and Jonathan Swift (Gulliver’s Travels).Show book
Nightmare Abbey is a Gothic satire about the romantic movement in contemporary English literature, its morbid subjects, misanthropy and transcendental philosophical systems. Most of the characters are based on historical figures whom Peacock wishes to ridicule. The main character is Christopher Glowry, Esquire, a morose widower who lives with his only son in his shabby family mansion. Mr. Glowry has servants with long faces or dismal names such as Raven, Graves or Deathshead. The few visitors he welcomes are mostly of a similar cast of mind: a transcendental philosopher; a Manichaean Millenarian; his son's languid and world-weary college friend; and a misanthropic poet. The only exception is the sanguine Mr. Hilary, who, as Mr. Glowry's brother-in-law, is obliged to visit the abbey from family interests. And there is Reverend Mr. Larynx, the vicar of nearby Claydyke, who readily adapts himself to whatever company he is in.Show book
