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  Food of the Gods and How it Came...

  H. G. Wells

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  What happens when science tampers with nature? A riveting, cautionary tale with disastrous results reveals the chilling answer. Hoping to create a new growth agent for food with beneficial uses to mankind, two scientists find that the spread of the material is uncontrollable. Giant chickens, rats, and insects run amok, and children given the food stuffs experience incredible growth--and serious illnesses. Over the years, people who have eaten these specially treated foods find themselves unable to fit into a society where ignorance and hypocrisy rule. These "giants," with their extraordinary mental powers, find themselves shut away from an older, more traditional society. Intolerance and hatred increase as the line of distinction between ordinary people and giants is drawn across communities and families. One of H. G. Wells' lesser-known works, The Food of the Gods has been retold many times in many forms since it was first published in 1904. The gripping, newly relevant tale combines fast-paced entertainment with social commentary as it considers the ethics involved in genetic engineering.

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  The Gambler

  Fyodor Dostoevsky

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  The Gambler is a psychologically probing novel concerning the gambling episodes, tangled love affairs, and complicated lives of Alexis Ivanovitch, a young gambling addict; Polina Alexandrovna, the woman he loves; a pair of French adventurers; and other characters. Narrated by Alexis, this short novel is based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's own experiences as a compulsive gambler. Like so many characters in Dostoevsky's novels, Alexis is trying to break through the wall of the established order and the human condition itself, but instead he is drawn into the vortex of the roulette wheel.This version of The Gambler is the translation by C. J. Hogarth.

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  The Message in the Bottle and...

  Walker Percy

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  Two fascinating philosophical inquiries from the “dazzlingly gifted” New York Times–bestselling and National Book Award–winning author of The Moviegoer (USA Today).   Winner of the National Book Award for The Moviegoer, the Southern writer Walker Percy possessed “an intellectual range and rigor few American novelists can match” (The New York Times Book Review). In these two provocative works, Percy manages to be perceptive and playful as he more directly explores the philosophical foundations of his groundbreaking fiction.  The Message in the Bottle: In these profound and passionate essays that “have a way of quickening the spirit and cleansing the sight,” Percy looks to language to answer the question of who we are as humans (The New Republic). He posits that the act of assigning meaning by naming things makes humans unique. Percy develops a theory of language through the example of Helen Keller being stimulated by the feel of water along with the sign for water, and explores questions such as why other animals don’t talk and why humans in technologically advanced, materially comfortable societies are so sad.   “A delight . . . a pleasure to read.” —Larry McMurtry, The Washington Post Book World  Lost in the Cosmos: “Charming, whimsical, slyly profound,” Lost in the Cosmos is a one-of-a-kind mix of self-help parody and philosophical speculation (The New York Times). Filled with quizzes, essays, short stories, and diagrams, Percy’s guide is a laugh-out-loud spin on a familiar genre that also pushes readers to serious contemplation of life’s biggest questions, such as: “Why is it no other species but man gets bored?” and “Explain why Moses was tongue-tied and stagestruck before his fellow Jews but had no trouble talking to God.”   “A mock self-help book designed not to help but to provoke; a chapbook to inveigle us into thinking about who we are and how we got into this mess.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review

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  Turtles of Tasman The (Unabridged)

  Jack London

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  Frederic Travers, a responsible man of high standing, gets a visit from his dying brother Tom, a globetrotting vagabond. It's a study in contrast between the two men, who each embody opposing aspects of London's character: the successful workaholic vs. the wandering adventurer. The writing is very mature and insightful, indicative of some of the more accomplished work of London's later career.

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  The Facts in the Case of M Valdemar

  Edgar Allan Poe

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  A man on the brink of death consents to experience Mesmerism, a revolutionary scientific technique to communicate with the dead.

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  Stories of Ships and the Sea

  Jack London

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  5 Exciting short stories by one of Americas best story tellers."Chris Farrington: Able Seaman""Typhoon off the Coast of Japan""The Lost Poacher""The Banks of the Sacramento""In Yeddo Bay"

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