Altri libri che potrebbero interessarti

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  The Kiss - From their pens to...

  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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  Origin Stories

  Corinna Vallianatos

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  The stories in Origin Stories take as their subject the sources of love, marriage, motherhood, friendship, artistic ambition, restiveness, and shame. Their characters perceive more than they can explain, want more than they can have, and contend with the bounty and frugality of their relationships. In "This Isn't the Actual Sea," a woman considers that her friend's failure and sudden success have given her the material she needs to write something of her own, if she's willing to risk the friendship to do so. "The Artist's Wife" describes, in a painting stowed in a bowling alley broom closet, the chasm between seeing and being seen. "Dogwood" is a piece of lyric reportage on beauty, family, and survival whose sections range from the narrator's childhood to her son's new adulthood. And "Origin Story" acts as an accounting of the many different states where a woman and her husband have lived, and what it is they've been searching for. 
   
   
   
  In this keen, meditative collection set in Southern California and Virginia, Corinna Vallianatos dramatizes the bonds of mother and child, the self-destruction of young womanhood, the thrill and bewilderment of friendship, and the power of place. 
   
   
   
  Origin Stories is filled with humor, longing, beauty, and belief.

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  Heartwarming Stories Almost...

  Harsh Munjal

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  What happens when fiction borrows the warmth of reality? In this debut collection, Harsh Munjal brings together stories that celebrate life's tender moments. Each tale, inspired by real people and events, carries the authenticity of truth and the comfort of well-crafted fiction. Perfect for readers who believe in the magic of everyday life—and an ideal companion for your next flight, road trip, beach day, or as a delightful breather between bigger books. 
  While some of these stories might feel familiar to my newsletter readers, there's something special about holding them together in a book—a completely different experience from reading them piece by piece in your inbox. And by choosing this collection, you're not just getting stories; you're directly supporting an independent author's journey to bring more such tales to life.

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  John Mortonson's Funeral by...

  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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  Night Before Christmas The - The...

  Clement Clarke Moore

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  'Tis the season for classic stories! Clement Clarke Moore's timeless Christmas poem comes gloriously to life as a soundscape audiobook. 
  Root & Twig Sound's fifth production is complete with delightful narration by Phil Dragash, festive original music by Alexander Amadeo and a guest appearance by the Virginian carolers, The Yuletides. Enjoy the Christmas season in a brand new way! 
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  A Root & Twig Sounds Production 
  Written by Clement Clarke Moore 
  Original text published on December 23rd of 1823 
  Produced as a Soundscape Audiobook on December 23rd of 2024 
  Read and Performed by Phil Dragash 
  Produced and Directed by Phil Dragash and A.Y. Barker 
  Original Music Composed by Alexander Amadeo 
  Special Thanks to Violet Virginia Mills Barker, Emma Purzycki, the families of Bedford and The Yuletides. 
  Cover Art by Phil Dragash 
  © Root & Twig Sounds, 2025 
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  The mission of Root and Twig Sounds is to be a beacon of classic stories spectacularly done for the modern ear, helping the world remember its great storytelling heritage. Find Root & Twig soundscape audiobooks wherever audiobooks are sold.

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  New Arabian Nights

  Robert Louis Stevenson

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  This audiobook is narrated by an AI Voice. "New Arabian Nights" by Robert Louis Stevenson is a collection of short stories that were first published between 1877 and 1880. The book, inspired by the classic "One Thousand and One Nights," transports the reader to a world full of mysteries, intrigues, and adventures. 
   
  In the two main story cycles, "The Suicide Club" and "The Rajah’s Diamond," we follow the fate of Prince Florizel of Bohemia and his faithful companion, Colonel Geraldine. In the first cycle, the characters encounter a mysterious club where members play a deadly card game. In the second cycle, they search for a missing diamond, leading them through a series of dangerous and exciting adventures. 
   
  Stevenson masterfully combines elements of humor, suspense, and deep reflection, creating stories that captivate and surprise at every turn. "New Arabian Nights" is a must-read for fans of adventure literature and classic tales. 
   
  This collection contains following short stories: 
  - The Suicide Club, containing:  
  -- Story of the Young Man with the Cream Tarts 
  -- Story of the Physician and the Saratoga Trunk 
  -- The Adventure of the Hansom Cab 
  - The Rajah's Diamond, containing: 
  -- Story of the Bandbox 
  -- Story of the Young Man in Holy Orders 
  -- Story of the House with the Green Blinds 
  -- The Adventure of Prince Florizel and a Detective 
  - The Pavilion on the Links 
  - A Lodging for the Night 
  - The Sire De Malétroits Door 
  - Providence and the Guitar

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