Publisher: Page2Page
"Let every man or woman here, if you never hear me again, remember this, that if you wish to be great at all, you must begin where you are and with what you are. He who would be great anywhere must first be great in his own Philadelphia." "Many of us spend our lives searching for success when it is usually so close that we can reach out and touch it.
Edith Wharton (1862-1937) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist and short story writer. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1927, 1928 and 1930. "The Lady's Maid's Bell" is a classic ghost story about Alice Hartley, a servant who takes up a new position in a remote country house as companion to an invalid lady. Almost immediately she realizes that there is something not quite right in the house. Across the passage from her room is a door which is always kept locked. Apparently it was the room of a previous companion to her mistress, who died several months ago. But sometimes there are strange sounds heard in the locked room - and once or twice the dead maid is seen on the passage. And then comes the night when the mysterious bell rings for the first time...Show book
From one of America’s most popular short story writers and an Academy Award nominee: the O. Henry Award–winning tale that inspired the movie The Hunt. A subject of mysterious rumors and superstition, the deserted Caribbean Island was shrouded in an air of peril. To Sanger Rainsford, who fell off a yacht and washed up on its shores, the abandoned isle was a welcome paradise. But unknown to the big-game hunter, a predator lurked in its lush jungles—one more dangerous than any he had ever encountered: a human. First published in 1924, this suspenseful tale “has inspired serial killers, films and stirred controversy in schools. A century on, the story continues to thrill” (The Telegraph). “[A] tense, relentless story of man-against-man adventure, in which the hunter Sanger Rainsford learns, at the hands of General Zaroff, what it means to be hunted.” —CriterionShow book
Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author? The theme itself will form the boundaries for our stories which range from well-known classics, newly told, to stories that modern times have overlooked but perfectly exemplify the theme. Throughout the volume our authors whether of instant recognition or new to you are all leviathans of literature. Some you may disagree with but they will get you thinking; about our choices and about those you would have made. If this volume takes you on a path to discover more of these miniature masterpieces then we have all gained something. From realism, to horror, to entirely new genres, authors in this Century sparkle with wit and purpose as they drive literature forward in expansive and pulsating new ways reflecting the harnessing of their talents to the bewildering changes in society. 1 - The Top 10 - The 20th Century - The Men - An Introduction 2 - The Dead - Part 1 by James Joyce 3 - The Dead - Part 2 by James Joyce 4 - The Rocking Horse Winner by D H Lawrence 5 - A Hunger Artist by Franz Kafka 6 - The Gift of the Magi by O Henry 7 - The Interlopers by Saki the pseudonym for H H Munro 8 - Morphine by Mikhail Bulgakov 9 - To Build a Fire by Jack London 10 - War by Luigi Pirandello 11 - The Color Out of Space by H P Lovecraft 12 - Oh Whistle and I'll Come to You My Lad by M R JamesShow book
A daring, hilariously neurotic literary debut from the acclaimed actor and comedian Brett Gelman (Stranger Things, Fleabag). Enter the wonderfully weird, always uncomfortable, side-splittingly funny world of The Terrifying Realm of the Possible, where your worst fears of who you are or might become are always just around the corner. In these masterful short stories from the singular mind of the actor and comedian Brett Gelman, you’ll meet five individuals, each navigating a uniquely strange stage of life: - ABRAHAM AMSTERDAM (the child) - MENDEL FREUDENBERGER (the teenager) - JACKIE COHEN (the adult) - IRIS BELOW (the senior) - Z (the dead) Our characters face the big issues; the ones we all face. As they traverse the prickly terrain of morality, family, sex, fame, religion, and death they search for answers to life's unanswerable questions. In the futility of that search comes the absurdity, along with the comedy. The composite portrait is an existential (mis)adventure of Rothian proportions. Gelman's remarkable first book is a bold, unforgettable debut that challenges our assumptions about what it means to be human.Show book
A couple looks for a new home in southern England – but it has to be haunted. They stay in the legendary house of Lyng, where it is said that the inhabitants don’t know that they’ve encountered the ghost until long afterward. Artfully crafted in five different parts, Wharton spins an ironic story of greed, guilt, and revenge.Show book
Vincent O'Sullivan (1868-1940), born in New York to an Irish American family, moved as a child to London. As a young man, he soon became well recognised as the master of decadent and macabre fiction. "The Business of Madame Jahn" is a macabre ghost story of a suicide, a terrible murder and an awful revenge.Show book
