Outros livros que poderiam interessá-lo

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  Better Dead - From their pens to...

  J M Barrie

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  Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM, was born in Kirriemuir, Angus on 9th May, 1860.  
  Barrie knew from an early age that he wished to be an author. His family wished otherwise. The compromise was that he would attend university to study literature at the University of Edinburgh. He graduated with an M.A. in April, 1882. 
  His first job was as a staff journalist for the Nottingham Journal. The London editor of the St. James's Gazette "liked that Scotch thing" in Barrie’s work and he wrote several stories for them and later several novels based on his mother’s early life.  
  Barrie though was increasingly drawn to working in the theatre.  His first plays achieved little attention but in 1901 and 1902, Barrie had back-to-back theatre successes with Quality Street and The Admirable Crichton. 
  The character of ‘Peter Pan’ first appeared in The Little White Bird in 1902. This most famous and enduring of his works; Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up had its first stage performance on December 27th, 1904.  
  Peter Pan would overshadow all his other works.  But his short stories cannot be overlooked.  Indeed, from today’s vantage point they are excellent gems of social manners, of class and the way characters, sometimes in the most mundane of circumstances, react in the most surprising of ways.

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  The Bobbsey Twins at Home

  Laura Lee Hope

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  "There is no place like home for the Bobbsey twins—especially when there is a mystery to solve!"
  
  Nan, Bert, Flossie, and Freddie are back in Lakeport! While their previous adventures took them far afield, The Bobbsey Twins at Home proves that life in a busy household is never quiet. From winter snowstorms and sledding mishaps to the excitement of school days and local festivities, the twins find themselves at the center of every neighborhood event. When small mysteries begin to crop up around town—including a missing fire engine toy and strange happenings at the Bobbsey lumber yard—the older twins, Nan and Bert, must use their wits to set things right while keeping an eye on their energetic younger siblings.
  
  The Heart of Lakeport: This volume provides the most detailed look at the Bobbseys' domestic life. Readers are introduced to the cozy atmosphere of their home, the bustling activity of Mr. Bobbsey's lumber yard, and the charming community of Lakeport. It captures a bygone era where the greatest thrills were found in simple community gatherings and outdoor play.
  
  Early 20th-Century Childhood: The Bobbsey Twins at Home serves as a wonderful historical mirror. It describes the games, chores, and social expectations of children in 1916. Whether they are dealing with a school bully or planning a surprise for their parents, the twins handle every situation with the pluck and honesty that made them icons of American juvenile literature.
  
  A Foundational Mystery: Before they were world travelers, the Bobbseys were neighborhood detectives. This book emphasizes the "everyday mystery"—lost items, misunderstood secrets, and the importance of helping neighbors. It is an ideal read-aloud book for families, fostering a love for storytelling and problem-solving in young readers.
  
  Experience the warmth of a classic American childhood. Purchase "The Bobbsey Twins at Home" today.

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  David Swan - From their pens to...

  Nathaniel Hawthorne

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  Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on 4th July 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, a town synonymous with the earlier Salem Witch Trials. It was instrumental in Hawthorne’s later use of American Gothic and dark romanticism in his writing. 
  He was a mere four years old when his father died and his mother took him and his two sisters to live with her family and then on to their own home in Raymond, Maine. The young Hawthorne had a passion for fiction and poetry and voraciously read the works of Ann Radcliffe, Henry Fielding and Lord Byron.  
  He was sent to college at his maternal uncle’s insistence. During these years he met and befriended Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and future U S president Franklin Pierce. These friendships were lifelong and to have a crucial impact on his writings and career.  
  At college Hawthorne had made attempts at writing short stories and essays but without opportunities to publish. It was only in 1828 that he finally published his novel ‘Franshawe’ to little success and so he began work as editor for the American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge.  
  Hawthorne’s short stories were first published in magazines but in 1837 were collected and published as ‘Twice-Told Tales’. A steady literary career still did not come his way and so he worked in a good position at Salem’s port and married the love of his life Sophia Peabody. They moved to live in ‘The Old Manse’ at Concord, Massachusetts.   
  Finally. in 1850 came spectacular literary and commercial success with ‘The Scarlet Letter’ followed by ‘The House of the Seven Gables’ the following year.  
  In 1852, Hawthorne published a biography of presidential candidate Franklin Pierce. After Pierce’s victory he was appointed consul in Liverpool, a position that offered prestige, money and fame. At the end of this appointment he returned several times to Europe before settling in Massachusetts and resuming writing and publication. 
  During the early 1860’s his health declined and on 19th May 1864 during a trip to Plymouth, New Hampshire. He was 59 and was buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts.

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  Against the Grain or Against Nature

  Joris-Karl Huysmans

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  "Against Nature" or "Against the Grain"—is an 1884 novel by the French writer Joris-Karl Huysmans. Let's explore this intriguing work:    Plot Summary:  The narrative revolves around a single character: Jean des Esseintes. He is an eccentric, reclusive, and ailing aesthete.  As the last scion of an aristocratic family, Des Esseintes despises nineteenth-century bourgeois society. His goal is to retreat into an ideal artistic world of his own creation.  The novel primarily consists of a catalogue of Des Esseintes's neurotic aesthetic tastes, musings on literature, painting, religion, and hyperaesthetic sensory experiences.  "À rebours" delves into themes associated with the Symbolist aesthetic, breaking away from Naturalism and becoming the epitome of "Decadent" literature. It profoundly influenced works like Oscar Wilde's ""The Picture of Dorian Gray""1.  Background:  Huysmans, the author, underwent a significant shift in his writing style. His early works were Naturalist, depicting the drudgery of working-class life in Paris.  However, he found this approach limiting and decided to apply the minutely documented realistic detail to a portrait of an exceptional individual: Jean des Esseintes.  The character of Des Esseintes is partly based on Huysmans himself, sharing similar tastes but taken to greater extremes. Huysmans transformed this "wild and gloomy fantasy" into the novel ""À rebours""12.  "Against Nature" invites readers into a world of decadence, introspection, and aesthetic obsession."

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  Father Brown: The Invisible Man...

  G.K. Chesterton

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  "The Invisible Man" is a detective story written by G. K. Chesterton which concerns the nature of the crimes committed by one James Welkin, who had been harassing Laura Hope and menacing his romantic rival, Isidore Smythe (whom he would later murder), all without ever being seen.

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  A Diagnosis of Death - From...

  Ambrose Bierce

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  Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was born on 24th June 1842 at Horse Cave Creek in Meigs County, Ohio. His parents were poor but they introduced him to literature at an early age, instilling in him a deep appreciation of books, the written word and the elegance of language.  
  Growing up in Koscuisko County, Indiana poverty and religion were defining features of his childhood, and he would later describe his parents as “unwashed savages” and fanatically religious, showing him little affection but always quick to punish. He came to resent religion, and his introduction to literature appears to be their only positive effect. 
  At age 15 Bierce left home to become a printer’s devil, mixing ink and fetching type at The Northern Indian, a small Ohio paper. Falsely accused of theft he returned to his farm and spent time sending out work in the hopes of being published. 
  His Uncle Lucius advised he be sent to the Kentucky Military Institute. A year later he was commissioned as an Officer.  As the Civil War started Bierce enlisted in the 9th Indiana Infantry Regiment.  
  In April 1862 Bierce fought at the Battle of Shiloh, an experience which, though terrifying, became the source of several short stories. Two years later he sustained a serious head wound and was off duty for several months. He was discharged in early 1865.  
  A later expedition to inspect military outposts across the Great Plains took him all the way to San Francisco. He remained there to become involved with publishing and editing and to marry, Mary Ellen on Christmas Day 1871.  They had a child, Day, the following year.  
  In 1872 the family moved to England for 3 years where he wrote for Fun magazine. His son, Leigh, was born, and first book, ‘The Fiend’s Delight’, was published.  
  They returned to San Francisco and to work for a number of papers where he gained admiration for his crime reporting. In 1887 he began a column at the William Randolph Hearst’s San Francisco Examiner.  
  Bierce’s marriage fell apart when he discovered compromising letters to his wife from a secret admirer. The following year, 1889 his son Day committed suicide, depressed by romantic rejection. 
  In 1891 Bierce wrote and published the collection of 26 short stories which included ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’.  Success and further works including poetry followed.  
  Bierce with Hearst’s resources helped uncover a financial plot by a railroad to turn 130 million dollars of loans into a handout. Confronted by the railroad and asked to name his price Bierce answered “my price is $130 million dollars. If, when you are ready to pay, I happen to be out of town, you may hand it over to my friend, the Treasurer of the United States”.  
  He now began his first foray as a fabulist, publishing ‘Fantastic Fables’ in 1899.  But tragedy again struck two years later when his second son Leigh died of pneumonia relating to his alcoholism.  
  He continued to write short stories and poetry and also published ‘The Devil’s Dictionary’.  
  At the age of 71, in 1913 Bierce departed from Washington, D.C., for a tour of the battlefields where he had fought during the civil war. At the city of Chihuahua he wrote his last known communication, a letter to a friend. It’s closing words were “as to me, I leave here tomorrow for an unknown destination,” Ambrose Bierce then vanished without trace.

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