Other books that might interest you

• 

  After Twenty years - From their...

  O Henry

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  William Sydney Porter was born on 11th September 1862 in Greensboro, North Carolina. At age 3 his mother died from tuberculosis. From an early age it was clear Porter had a large appetite for reading as he absorbed the world around him. 
  He first attended at a school run by his aunt before enrolling at the Lindsey Street High School and then worked at his uncle’s drugstore and gained a pharmacists’ license in 1881.  
  A persistent cough took him to Texas in the hope that a change of climate would help his symptoms. He took on various types of work, initially from ranch hand and cook and then as varied as pharmacist, draftsman, bank teller and journalist. He also began to write, though for now, purely as a hobby. 
  He was a member of several singing and dramatic groups when he met 17 year old Athol Estes, daughter of a wealthy Austin family. Despite her mother’s objection owing to Athol’s tuberculosis, they began courting and in July 1887, they eloped and soon married. 
  Athol, impressed by his writing, encouraged him to get them published. A job as a draftsman at the Texas General Land Office paid a healthy $100 dollars per month and life was good. 
  But then life turned cruel. His son died a few hours after birth although a daughter, Margaret, came the following year.  His job had to be vacated but another was found at the First National Bank of Austin. The bank operated informally and Porter was careless in keeping the books. He lost that job but began writing for the humourous weekly The Rolling Stone and the Houston Post. Some time later the federal Bank auditors went through his former accounts and he was arrested on charges of embezzlement. 
  Porter fled the day before his trial to Honduras. Holed up for several months he began to write.  Athol had become too ill to travel to meet him and learning that her health was deteriorating he surrendered to the court in February 1897.  Bail was obtained so that he could stay with Athol during her final days.  
  Porter was sentenced to five years at the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus. His pharmacy qualifications got him the job of night druggist.  His sentence also gave him time to write and publish fourteen short stories. In December 1899 in McClure’s Magazine he published a short story as O Henry.  
  He was released two years early in July 1901, and reunited with Margaret, now 11, in Pittsburgh.  He now began his most prolific period of writing; a short story per week for the New York World, while also publishing works in other magazines.  Eventually over 600 of his short stories were published. 
  Porter was a heavy drinker and in 1908 his health, which had deteriorated for several years, took a dramatic turn for the worse, as did his writing. 
  O Henry died of cirrhosis of the liver complicated by diabetes and an enlarged heart on 5th June 1910.<

  Show book

• 

  The Listener - A Novel

  Taylor Caldwell

  • 0
  • 1
  • 0

  A parade of people in need of solace find a mysterious sympathizer, in this uniquely moving classic by a New York Times–bestselling author. They come day and night to confess their troubles to an anonymous listener positioned behind a curtain. Could it be a priest, a psychiatrist, a friend, or a judge? Each person draws a different conclusion. From a businessman who feels betrayed by someone he trusted, to a society woman with contempt for her husband, to a scientist troubled by what his work has wrought, the visitors’ situations vary widely as they struggle with grief, denial, prejudice, and fear. But in this small sanctuary, there are no office hours, the listener is always listening, and the visitors’ lives are forever changed. This inspiring and inventive work of fiction comes from the award-winning author of Captains and the Kings, Testimony of Two Men, and many other bestsellers. “The gift of narration and characterization which Taylor Caldwell brings to each of her books is here in strong measure.” —Kirkus Reviews “I believe [Caldwell] wanted to instill hope, renew faith, and foster love in what she saw as a society on the decline. The year was 1960. But the issues can be universally applied today.” —The Book Cafe

  Show book

• 

  A Source of Irritation - From...

  Stacy Aumonier

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  The bookshelves of British literature are incredible collections that have gathered together centuries of very talented authors.  From these Isles their fame spread and whilst among their number many are now forgotten or neglected their talents endure.  Among them is Stacy Aumonier.

  Show book

• 

  The Kiss

  Kate Chopin

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Kate Chopin's "The Kiss" was written on September 19, 1894, and first published in Vogue on January 17, 1895. It is a short story about a woman scheming to marry a wealthy man.

  Show book

• 

  Wayward Sons - A Jerry Snyder Novel

  Wayne Stinnett, Stewart Matthews

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Where Jerry Snyder goes, trouble follows. Someone tried to kill him and his bride on their honeymoon in the Virgin Islands. And moving there permanently is proving to be anything but tranquil.  
  First, he’s working for the secretive Armstrong Organization - a group dedicated to hunting terrorists, drug smugglers, and the nastiest criminals since Blackbeard. 
  Second, his partner is DJ Martin, a one-legged Airborne vet, who has the temperament of a croc with a toothache. DJ has never met a nose he couldn’t break, and he’s tested plenty of them.  
  When a body washes ashore at an island resort in Culebra, a family desperate for help turns to Jerry and DJ. Sailing the Caribbean looking for answers, their course proves deadlier than either man bargained for. And when Jerry’s past dealings appear on the horizon, the two men have to find common ground to overcome a cunning, powerful enemy with a desire more dangerous than murder.

  Show book

• 

  The Eyes Have It - A seemingly...

  Philip K. Dick

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Philip Kindred Dick was born in 1928.  Widely considered one of the greatest science fiction writers, his talents were immense but he lived almost his whole life on the edge of poverty. Born prematurely on December 16, 1928 his twin sister died which caused a shadow over the rest of his life.  Many of his works would refer to the ‘phantom twin’.  Bizarrely her tiny body was buried in Colorado where her parents also had Phillips name inscribed on the tombstone. Eventually upon his death in 1982 he too was interred in the same plot. Phillip sold his first short story in 1951 and then became a full time writer selling his first novel in 1955.  He wrote continually and whilst considered a genius of the science fiction genre he was ignored by the mainstream.  Now of course much of his work is turned into films and he is rightly lauded.  All his work is at times visionary, and haunting dealing with many themes. Dick wrote of his work. "In my writing I even question the universe; I wonder out loud if it is real, and I wonder out loud if all of us are real."

  Show book