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  Edna Ferber: Un Morso Doo Pang -...

  Edna Ferber

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  World War I caused many young men from America to leave their homes and travel into the great big world out there.  By the many thousands they traveled by bus and train from tiny villages in every state to the big cities and then they rubbed shoulders with other men from a variety of cultures and beliefs.  Then they travelled more than in their wildest dreams, across oceans to Europe.  When returning they were different boys and men, much more worldly and knowing.  But what about their girl friends that were left behind?  They stayed in the tiny towns and stayed provincial so that when their boyfriends returned they felt very inadequate.  This story is about an ordinary girl and boy caught up in this situation and how learning to say "a piece of bread" in French can make all the difference in a girls confidence about life and love.

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  How High? - That High - Stories

  Diane Williams

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  Diane Williams, an American master of the short story who will "rewire your brain" (NPR), is back with a collection in which she once again expands the possibilities of fiction. 
   
   
   
  These stories depict ordinary moments—a visit to the doctor's office or a married couple's hundredth dance together—but within the quotidian, Williams delivers a lifetime of insecurities, lusts, rejections, and revelations, making her work equally discomfiting and amusing. With unmatched wit in every sentence, Williams captures whole universes in a story, delivering visionary insights into what it means to be human. 
   
   
   
  Williams's devotees will be newly enthralled by her elegantly strange, bewitching stories in How High?—That High. Those who have yet to meet "the godmother of flash fiction" (The Paris Review) will find an extraordinary introduction in this book.

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  The Most Dangerous Game

  Richard Edward Connell

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  "The Most Dangerous Game," a short story written by Richard Edward Connell in 1924, is a thrilling tale that explores themes of survival, morality, and the nature of human cruelty. Set against the backdrop of a remote island, the story combines suspense, adventure, and a touch of philosophical inquiry, making it one of the most widely anthologized short stories in American literature.
  "The Most Dangerous Game" remains a powerful exploration of human nature, showcasing Connell's ability to craft suspense and provoke deep ethical questions through a deceptively simple adventure story.

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  At Christmas Time - From their...

  Anton Chekhov

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  Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was born on 29th January 1860 in Taganrog, on the south coast of Russia.  
  His family life was difficult; his father was strict and over-bearing but his mother was a passionate story-teller, a subject Chekhov warmed to. As he later said; ‘our talents we got from our father, but our soul from our mother’.  
  At school Chekhov was distinctly average. At 16 his father mis-managed his finances and was declared bankrupt. His family fled to Moscow. Chekhov remained and eked out a living by various means, including writing and selling short sketches to newspapers, to finish his schooling. That completed and with a scholarship to Moscow University obtained he rejoined his family. 
  He was able to help support them by selling satirical sketches and vignettes of Russian lifestyles and gradually obtained further commissions. In 1884, he qualified as a physician and, although it earned him little, he often treated the poor for free, he was fond of saying ‘Medicine is my lawful wife, and literature is my mistress.’ 
  His own health was now an issue as he began to cough up blood, a symptom of tuberculosis.  Despite this his writing success enabled him to move the family into more comfortable accommodation.  
  Chekhov wrote over 500 short stories which included many, many classics including ‘The Kiss’ and ‘The Lady with a Dog’.  His collection ‘At Dusk’ won him the coveted Pushkin Prize when was only 26.  
  He was also a major playwright beginning with the huge success of ‘Ivanov’ in 1887.   
  In 1892 Chekhov bought a country estate north of Moscow. Here his medical skills and money helped the peasants tackle outbreaks of cholera and bouts of famine. He also built three schools, a fire station and a clinic.  It left him with less time for writing but the interactions with real people gained him detailed knowledge about the peasantry and their living conditions for his stories.  
  His most famous work, ‘The Seagull’ was received disastrously at its premiere in St Petersburg. It was later restaged in Moscow to highlight its psychological aspects and was a huge success. It led to ‘Uncle Vanya’, ‘The Three Sisters’ and ‘The Cherry Orchard’.  
  Chekhov suffered a major lung hemorrhage in 1897 while visiting Moscow. A formal diagnosis confirmed tuberculosis and the doctors ordered changes to his lifestyle.  
  Despite a dread of weddings the elusive literary bachelor quietly married the actress Olga Knipper, whom he had met at rehearsals for ‘The Seagull’, on 25th May 1901. 
  By May 1904 with his tuberculosis worsening and death imminent he set off for the German town of Badenweiler writing cheerful, witty letters to his family and assuring them his health was improving.  
  On 15th July 1904 Anton Chekhov died at Badenweiler.  He was 44.

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  Standing Her Ground - Classic...

  Harriet Sanders

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  All the stories in Standing Her Ground have been chosen to celebrate the skill, the passion and achievements of women writers spanning one hundred years of innovation. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is edited by Harriet Sanders.Edith Wharton was the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for literature. Writer and activist Alice Dunbar Nelson was an early adopter of the Harlem Renaissance movement. Kate Chopin and Elizabeth Gaskell dared to explore themes outside the strict social codes of their times. And Virginia Woolf was hugely influential in both the feminist and modernist movements.From ‘The Manchester Marriage’, in which a husband, supposedly drowned at sea, returns to find his daughter, to the two sisters who are comically adrift after the death of their domineering father in ‘The Daughters of the Late Colonel’, and a young girl who enlists the help of a sorceress to win back her boyfriend in ‘The Goodness of Saint Rocque’, Standing Her Ground showcases nine groundbreaking women writers.

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  The Boarded Window

  Ambrose Bierce

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  The Boarded Window is a chilling short story by Ambrose Bierce that follows the life of Murlock, a solitary man who lives in a cabin with a boarded-up window. The story begins with Murlock's death and the discovery of his wife's grave nearby. As the narrator delves into the mysterious circumstances surrounding their lives, a haunting tale of loss, isolation, and perhaps even the supernatural unfolds. The boarded window, a constant symbol of seclusion and concealment, becomes a focal point of the story, hinting at a dark secret that remains unspoken.

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