Other books that might interest you

• 

  A Nervous Breakdown

  Anton Chekhov

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Three friends, Mayer (a medical student), Rybnikov (a student of the arts), and Vassilyev (a law student), decide to go out one night to get some girls. Mayer and Rybnikov had to spend some time convincing Cassilyev to come along, as he was far more fastidious and cautious than his friends. Cassilyev himself is envious of his friends, who live their lives in a much more carefree fashion. The three friends visit several different houses containing the girls, but Cassilyev finds himself more eager to talk to the girls and treat them to fancy drinks than to pay his money to get something more. He tries to understand the lives the fallen women are living, but he grows more and more disgusted with them. Upon returning home, he continues to think about such depressing lives and the next day his friends come to see him and discover that he is in the midst of a nervous breakdown.

  Show book

• 

  Short Story Collection Vol 029

  Various

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  LibriVox’s Short Story Collection 029: a collection of 10 short works of fiction in the public domain read by a group of LibriVox members.

  Show book

• 

  Moby Dick

  Herman Melville

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  A literary classic that wasn't recognized for its merits until decades after its publication, Herman Melville's Moby-Dick tells the tale of a whaling ship and its crew, who are carried progressively further out to sea by the fiery Captain Ahab. Obsessed with killing the massive whale, which had previously bitten off Ahab's leg, the seasoned seafarer steers his ship to confront the creature, while the rest of the shipmates, including the young narrator, Ishmael, and the harpoon expert, Queequeg, must contend with their increasingly dire journey. The book invariably lands on any short list of the greatest American novels.

  Show book

• 

  The Circus in Winter

  Cathy Day

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Over a half century, a small Indiana town hosts a circus troupe during the off-seasons in linked stories “as graceful as any acrobat’s high-wire act” (San Francisco Chronicle). 
   
  A Story Prize Finalist 
   
  From 1884 to 1939, the Great Porter Circus made the unlikely choice to winter in an Indiana town called Lima, a place that feels as classic as Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, and as wondrous as a first trip to the Big Top. In Lima, an elephant can change the course of a man's life—or the manner of his death. Jennie Dixianna entices men with her dazzling Spin of Death and keeps them in line with secrets locked in a cedar box. The lonely wife of the show’s manager has each room of her house painted like a sideshow banner, indulging her desperate passion for a young painter. And a former clown seeks consolation from his loveless marriage in his post-circus job at Clown Alley Cleaners. In this collection of linked stories spanning decades, Cathy Day follows the circus people into their everyday lives and brings the greatest show on earth to the page. 
   
  “[An] exquisite story collection.” —The Washington Post 
   
  “Often funny, always graceful, and rich with a mix of historical and imaginative detail.” —Tim O’Brien, author of The Things They Carried 
   
  “Sublimely imaginative and affecting.” —The Boston Globe

  Show book

• 

  The Haunted House

  Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins,...

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Whilst writer Charles Dickens needs no introduction, his ‘Haunted House’ anthology might, not least because in his role as editor he introduces a formidable array of known and lesser-known literary talents.   
   
  Dickens started a tradition of releasing stories each Christmas with ‘A Christmas Carol’ in 1843.  ‘The Haunted House’ was his 1859 offering and, as the name suggests, is set in a large house which, as his introductory story explains, is desired by John the narrator, as a temporary country retreat for health reasons.   
   
  He is made aware of the terror the house holds for the locals but undaunted, he and his sister, Patty, take residence without any servants, save for the deaf stable hand, who is untroubled by the ghostly goings on.   
   
  John and Patty invite friends to visit and except Patty who keeps her own room, they all draw lots for which rooms they will stay in but agree not to share their experiences of their rooms until the twelfth night. 
   
  On that night they all gather together to feast on their experiences and share them with each other.   
   
  The Haunted House is a skillful portmanteau by Dickens, assembling the best literary talent of his age including Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Gaskell, Hesba Stretton, Adelaide Anne Proctor, George Augustus Sala and, of course, the literary leviathan himself to delight us, scare us and occasionally raise a laugh or two before the next moment of fear and dread come calling.   
  1 - The Haunted House - An Introduction 
  2 - The Mortals in the House by Charles Dickens 
  3 - The Ghost in the Cloakroom by Hesba Stretton 
  4 - The Ghost in the Double Room by George Augustus Sala 
  5 - The Ghost in the Picture Room by Adelaide Anne Proctor 
  6 - The Ghost in the Cupboard Room by Wilkie Collins 
  7 -  The Ghost in Master B's Room by Charles Dickens 
  8 - The Ghost in the Garden Room, Part 1 by Elizabeth Gaskell 
  9 - The Ghost in the Garden Room, Part 2 by Elizabeth Gaskell 
  10 - The Ghost in the Corner Room by Charles Dickens

  Show book

• 

  The Judgment of Paris

  Leonard Merrick

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  The story of a bizarre love triangle. Two popular comedians, Robichon and Quinquart vie for the love of a pretty actress. She declares that she will marry the one who is a better actor... but how to decide? The pretty Suzanne's answer is that all Paris should decide. But how is this to be achieved?The two agree that to test their acting skills they should take on a serious acting role. But as they are famous as comedians, they realise it will be difficult to agree anyone to cast them in anything other than comedy. At this moment, a stranger joins them and asks some advice. He is the former public executioner, and is about to give a lecture for the first time. He is seeking some tips from the famous performers, as he is crippled with stage fright. Robichon offers to swap places and take over this performance...knowing that if he wins over the audience in this role, he will also win Suzanne's hand. Quinquart despairs. How on earth can he possibly beat Robichon's performance? But while the lecture is a masterful triumph, events take a most unexpected turn afterwards.

  Show book