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  In the Middle of the Fields

  Mary Lavin

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  Mary Lavin is ranked amongst the greatest short-story writers of the twentieth century, and remains a titan of Irish literature. First published in 1967, In the Middle of the Fields explores lives that are multi-layered and secretive, peculiar and intimate, and offers a window into the quiet tragedies and joys of human life. This collection is a profound example of Lavin's unique control, insight and subtlety. For the first time in decades, and with an introduction by Colm Tóibín, the Modern Irish Classics series brings this hallmark collection to a new generation of readers.

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  The Alchemist

  H.P. Lovecraft

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  "The Alchemist" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft, written in 1908, when Lovecraft was 17 or 18, and first published in the November 1916 issue of the United Amateur. Howard Phillips Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 - March 15, 1937) - known as H.P. Lovecraft - was an American author who achieved posthumous fame through his influential works of horror fiction. 
   
  Virtually unknown and only published in pulp magazines before he died in poverty, he is now regarded as one of the most significant 20th-century authors in his genre. Lovecraft was born in Providence, Rhode Island, where he spent most of his life. His father was confined to a mental institution when Lovecraft was three years old. His grandfather, a wealthy businessman, enjoyed storytelling and was an early influence. Intellectually precocious but sensitive, Lovecraft began composing rudimentary horror tales by the age of eight, but suffered from overwhelming feelings of anxiety. 
   
  He encountered problems with classmates in school, and was kept at home by his highly strung and overbearing mother for illnesses that may have been psychosomatic. In high school, Lovecraft was able to better connect with his peers and form friendships. He also involved neighborhood children in elaborate make-believe projects, only regretfully ceasing the activity at seventeen years old. Despite leaving school in 1908 without graduating - he found mathematics particularly difficult.

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  The Masterworks of Orson Welles

  Joseph Conrad, H. G. Wells,...

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  Considered one of the greatest filmmakers of the twentieth century, legendary director, producer, and screenwriter Orson Welles was also an acclaimed actor, whose distinctive voice commanded attention. In this recording, Welles offers historic interpretations of excerpts from classic literature. This collection features time-honored works by several distinguished contributors, including American authors Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe, as well as Joseph Conrad, Rudyard Kipling, Saki, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Oscar Wilde. Narrated as only Orson Welles can, the stories collected here include:“             By the Old Moulmein Pagoda”              by Rudyard Kipling•              “             The Happy Prince”              by Oscar Wilde•              “             Letter to the Reverend Dr. Hyde”              by Robert Louis Stevenson•              “             The Red Room”              by H.G. Wells•              “             Rikki-Tikki-Tavi”              by Rudyard Kipling•              “             The Secret Sharer”              by Joseph Conrad•              “             Shredni Vashtar”              by Saki•              “             The Tell-Tale Heart”              by Edgar Allan Poe•              “             Wakefield”              by Nathaniel Hawthorne•              “             The Way Through the Woods”              by Rudyard Kipling

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  The Development

  John Barth

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  “A merry satire about the smart, moneyed, and demanding retirees living in a gated community . . . Scintillating on the surface and churning with danger below” (Booklist). From a National Book Award–winning author, this is a collection of “nine darkly comic stories set in a gated community on Maryland’s Eastern Shore” (Publishers Weekly).   Something has disturbed the comfortably aging denizens of Heron Bay Estates, a pristine retirement community in Chesapeake Bay. In the dawn of the new millennium—and the evening of their lives—these empty nesters have discovered that their tidy enclave can be surprisingly colorful, shocking, and surreal.   From the high jinks of a toga party to a baffling suicide pact, John Barth, “a comic genius of the highest order,” brings compassion to the lives of his characters with the mordant humor that has earned him a reputation as one of our most original storytellers (The New York Times Book Review).   “Disturbing, but humorous . . . Reading ‘The Development’ is a worthy investment in lofty literary real estate.” —The Seattle Times   “Perhaps the most prodigally gifted comic novelists writing in English today.” —Newsweek   “A low-key, clear-eyed, battered-but-unbowed portrait of the diminishments and minor pleasures of age. Barth’s prose still has its sinew and snap; he examines near-decrepitude with mordant, rueful wit.” —Kirkus Reviews

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  On Christmas Day in the Evening

  Grace S. Richmond

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  The Fernalds, who now always share the holidays together, decide to try to reunite their community as well by re-opening the village church after schisms have shut its doors. First published in 1910, this short tale continues the story of the Fernald family that began with the 1908 short novel On Christmas Day in the Morning.

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  Middle Men - Stories

  Jim Gavin

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  In Middle Men, Stegner Fellow and New Yorker contributor Jim Gavin delivers a  hilarious and panoramic vision of California, portraying a group of men, from young dreamers to old vets, as they make valiant forays into middle-class respectability. In " Play the Man",  a high-school basketball player aspires to a college scholarship; in " Elephant Doors", a production assistant on a game show moonlights as a stand-up comedian; and in the collection' s last story, the immensely moving " Costello", a middle-aged plumbing supplies salesman comes to terms with the death of his wife. The men in Gavin's stories all find themselves stuck somewhere in the middle, caught half way between their dreams and the often crushing reality of their lives. A work of profound humanity that pairs moments of high comedy with searing truths about life's missed opportunities, Middle Men brings to life a series of unforgettable characters learning what it means to love and work and be in the world as a man, and it offers our first look at a gifted writer who has just begun teaching us the tools of his trade.

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