Publisher: ATOZ Classics
Emma is a comic novel by Jane Austen, first published in December 1815, about the perils of misconstrued romance. The main character, Emma Woodhouse, is described in the opening paragraph as "handsome, clever, and rich" but is also rather spoiled. Prior to starting the novel, Austen wrote, "I am going to take a heroine whom no-one but myself will much like."
Chock-full of unbelievable stories, Me and the Cottonwood Tree will enchant readers with the hilarious misadventures of young Herb growing up during some of the most pivotal times in America. From getting stuck in the family outhouse, to buying a donkey as a pet, to creating a giant fireball out of burning Christmas trees, you’ll be taken along for a wild ride full of hysterical stories of Herb growing up through some of America’s most influential moments in history. Set in Arizona and California from 1933 to 1950, this is the story of one boy’s untethered childhood. Herb Bryce grew up as part of a large Mormon family, moving frequently from town to town and house to house. In each new home, Herb learns valuable lessons...and often gets into heaps of mischief along the way. Jump back to a time when kids were given freedom not often allowed to children today—roaming fields and forests, having adventures, and learning about how to create adventure right outside your door.Show book
Chronicling the birth of Tish, the University of British Columbia's poetry newsletter, this history describes the ideologies and devotion of its contributing poets and editors and the publication that followed. The evolution of this artistic venture, which represented a clear break from older Canadian poets and styles and a clash with entrenched Canadian cultural and political assumptions, is related by one of its founding members.Show book
The First World War was an event so important, so catalytic, so transformative that it still hangs in the public memory and still compels the Historians pen. It was a conflict which, by the end of the struggle, had created a world unfamiliar to the one in existence before it and brought levels of destruction and loss all too unimaginable to the generation of minds which created it. Despite this, we still find it hard to picture what it was like to live through this war. Right from its start, Mabel Goode realised that the First World War would be the biggest event to take place in her lifetime. Knowing this, she took to recording it, taking us day by day through what living in wartime Britain was like. The diary shows us how the war came to the Home Front, from enrolment, rationing, the collapse of domestic service and growth of war work, to Zeppelin attacks over Yorkshire, and the ever mounting casualty lists. Above all else, Mabels diary captures a growing disillusionment with a lengthening war, as the costs and the sacrifices mount. Starting with great excitement and expecting a short struggle, the entries gradually give way to a more critical tone, and eventually to total disengagement. The blank pages marked for 1917 and 1918 are almost as informative as the fearful excitement captured at the onset of that tremendous conflict. This is a strong narrative of the war, easy to read, mixing news with personal feelings and events (often revealing gap between official news and reality). Also included are several poems written by Mabel and a love story in the appendix, giving a complete insight into the life of the diarist. Of note is the fact that Mabel and her brothers (the main serving protagonists in the diary) lived in Germany for some time, meaning they could all speak German and knew 'the enemy nation' as many Britons did not.Show book
The first biography of america’s best-known short story writer of the late twentieth century.The London Times called Raymond Carver "the American Chekhov." The beloved, mischievous, but more modest short-story writer and poet thought of himself as "a lucky man" whose renunciation of alcohol allowed him to live "ten years longer than I or anyone expected." In that last decade, Carver became the leading figure in a resurgence of the short story. Readers embraced his precise, sad, often funny and poignant tales of ordinary people and their troubles: poverty, drunkenness, embittered marriages, difficulties brought on by neglect rather than intent. Since Carver died in 1988 at age fifty, his legacy has been mythologized by admirers and tainted by controversy over a zealous editor’s shaping of his first two story collections. Carol Sklenicka penetrates the myths and controversies. Her decade-long search of archives across the United States and her extensive interviews with Carver’s relatives, friends, and colleagues have enabled her to write the definitive story of the iconic literary figure. Laced with the voices of people who knew Carver intimately, her biography offers a fresh appreciation of his work and an unbiased, vivid portrait of the writer.Show book
On the Shortness of Life was written by Seneca around the year 49AD. He argues that we waste so much time because we do not properly value it. We expend great effort in protecting other valuables such as money and property, but because time appears intangible, we allow others to occupy it and take time away from us. Wise people, on the other hand, understand that time is the most valuable of all resources, and with effort can free themselves from external control to engage in meaningful introspection and create an intentional life. Seneca urges his readers to live in the present and adapt themselves to a purposeful life in agreement with Nature. Only by doing so, can one then truly unlock both past and future. The completeness of each present moment allows one's awareness to expand to the equal of that of the universe, and achieve true virtue and happiness. The statements which urge Paulinus to retire from public life are in notable contrast to Seneca's advice in his essay Of Tranquillity of Mind to seek public employments in order to render life attractive. However, in his related treatise, On Leisure, Seneca makes the point that there is no inconsistency and that one can serve the greater community in either or both roles Translation by John W Basore, produced by Vox StoicaSeneca's Essays Series: 1) Of providence – addressed to Lucilius 2) On the Firmness of the Wise Man – addressed to Serenus3-5) Of Anger (Books 1-3) – addressed to his brother Novatus6) Of Consolation – addressed to Marcia7) Of a Happy Life – addressed to Gallio 8) Of Leisure – addressed to Serenus 9) Of Tranquillity of Mind – addressed to Serenus10) On the Shortness of Life – addressed to Paulinus11) Of Consolation – addressed to Polybius12) Of Consolation – addressed to HelviaShow book
For Allena Hansen, a vicious bear attack was "no biggie" compared to the trauma inflicted by her refined sixties upbringing, stint as Playboy's token intellectual bimbo, and enough cowgirl angst to knock even Job for a loop.A tragicomic collection of latter day Grimm's Fairy Tales, Chomp, Chomp, Chomp: How I Survived a Bear Attack and Other Cautionary Tales introduces Hansen as the smart-assed socialite and full-contact gardener that Hunter S. Thompson once toasted as "the distaff Hunter S. Thompson" and Andrew Breitbart called out as "the coolest person in the room."Offering herself up as a cautionary example, Hansen poses the age-old question, "What makes a survivor?" Listen to this book and remain as puzzled as ever, but as you marvel at her uncompromisingly bad judgment and uncanny resilience, you just might learn something that could save your life.Show book
