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Zane Grey (Pearl Zane Gray) born in 1872 in Zanesville, Ohio was best known for his western stories, most notably Riders Of The Purple Sage which has been filmed four times, the last in 1996 starring Ed Harris and Amy Madigan. Among his other interests was baseball. He attended the University of Pennsylvania on a baseball scholarship where he earned a degree in dentistry. Grey later played minor league baseball with a team in Wheeling, West Virginia. According to the Internet Movie Data Base he is credited with 110 films made from his stories and books. Grey died from a heart attack in 1939 in Altadena, California. In The Shortstop (1909) drawing on his baseball experience Grey follows the adventures of seventeen year-old Chase Alloway on his quest to make his fortune as a baseball player and lift his family out of poverty. Along the way young Chase encounters hardship and set-back. But with perseverance he discovers not only himself but friendship and love. (summary by Rowdy Delaney)...

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Fiction, Teen/Young adult

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A collection of Twain short stories including: The Loves Of Alonzo Fitz Clarence And Rosannah Ethelton On The Decay Of The Art Of Lying About Magnanimous-Incident Literature The Grateful Poodle The Benevolent Author The Grateful Husband Punch, Brothers, Punch The Great Revolution In Pitcairn The Canvasser's Tale An Encounter With An Interviewer Paris Notes Legend Of Sagenfeld, In Germany Speech On The Babies Speech On The Weather Concerning The American Language Rogers (Summary from Project Gutenberg)...

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Fiction, Short stories

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Pompey, the son of Julio and Phyllis, was born A.D. 1735, at Bologna in Italy, a place famous for lap-dogs and sausages. At an early age he was carried away from the boudoir of his Italian mistress by Hillario, an English gentleman illustrious for his gallantries, who brought him to London. The rest of the history is really a chain of social episodes, each closed by the incident that Pompey becomes the property of some fresh person. In this way we find ourselves in a dozen successive scenes, each strongly contrasted with the others. It is the art of the author that he knows exactly how much to tell us without wearying our attention, and is able to make the transition to the next scene a plausible one. (Summary by Edmund Gosse in Gossip in a Library http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/11628)...

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Fiction, Satire

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That the little boy loved Uncle Remus and his stories was so obvious that the tale-spinning sessions began drawing additional listeners. Daddy Jack, an old Africa man visiting from down-state; Sis Tempy, the strong chief of the mansion's servants; and Tildy, a young and pretty servant-girl - all found their way to Uncle Remus' rude cabin when their duties or interests permitted, to sit around the hearth and hear the wonderful tales of the animals, and foremost among them, Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox. It turned out that some of the tales had different ways of telling, and the visitors took their turns at being the story-teller. Always one or more clever animals humbled or hornswoggled others among their community with flattery, wide-eyed mystery, or outright fraud. After the success of Harris' Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings ( /uncle-remus-by-joel-chandler-harris/ ), he went on to write eight more books compiling the tales he himself had heard on the plantation in his young days. This is the first of those sequels....

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Fiction, Children, Animals

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Apart from Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - the pieces which made both Irving and The Sketch Book famous - other tales include Roscoe, The Broken Heart, The Art of Book-making, A Royal Poet, The Spectre Bridegroom, Westminster Abbey, Little Britain, and John Bull. His stories were highly influenced by German folktales, with The Legend of Sleepy Hollow being inspired by a folktale recorded by Karl Musäus. Stories range from the maudlin (such as The Wife and The Widow and Her Son) to the picaresque (Little Britain) and the comical (The Mutability of Literature), but the common thread running through The Sketch Book — and a key part of its attraction to readers — is the personality of Irving's pseudonymous narrator, Geoffrey Crayon. Erudite, charming, and never one to make himself more interesting than his tales, Crayon holds The Sketch Book together through the sheer power of his personality - and Irving would, for the rest of his life, seamlessly enmesh Crayon's persona with his own public reputation....

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Short stories, Fiction

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The Marble Faun is Hawthorne's most unusual romance. Writing on the eve of the American Civil War, Hawthorne set his story in a fantastical Italy. The romance mixes elements of a fable, pastoral, gothic novel, and travel guide. In the spring of 1858, Hawthorne was inspired to write his romance when he saw the Faun of Praxiteles in a Roman sculpture gallery. The theme, characteristic of Hawthorne, is guilt and the Fall of Man. The four main characters are Miriam, a beautiful painter who is compared to Eve, Beatrice Cenci, Lady Macbeth, Judith, and Cleopatra, and is being pursued by a mysterious, threatening Model; Hilda, an innocent copyist who is compared to the Virgin Mary; Kenyon, a sculptor, who represents rationalist humanism; and Donatello, the Count of Monti Beni, who is compared to Adam, resembles the Faun of Praxiteles, and is probably only half human....

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Fiction, Fantasy, Romance

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Published in 1899 by Houghton Mifflin, Chesnutt's first book, The Conjure Woman, was a collection of seven short stories, all set in Patesville (Fayetteville), North Carolina. While drawing from local color traditions and relying on dialect, Chesnutt's tales of conjuring, a form of magic rooted in African hoodoo, refused to romanticize slave life or the Old South. Though necessarily informed by Joel Chandler Harris's popular Uncle Remus stories and Thomas Nelson Page's plantation fiction, The Conjure Woman consciously moved away from these models, instead offering an almost biting examination of pre- and post-Civil War race relations. These seven short stories use a frame narrator, John, a white carpetbagger who has moved south to protect his wife Annie's failing health and to begin cultivating a grape vineyard. Enamored by remnants of the plantation world, John portrays the South in largely idealistic terms. Yet Uncle Julius McAdoo, the ex-slave and trickster figure extraordinaire who narrates the internal story lines, presents a remarkably different view of Southern life. His accounts include Aun' Peggy's conjure spells in Mars Je...

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Fiction, Historical Fiction, Short stories

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Jerusha Abbott was brought up at the John Grier Home, an old-fashioned orphanage. The children were wholly dependent on charity and had to wear other people's cast-off clothes. Jerusha's unusual first name was selected by the matron off a grave stone, while her surname was selected out of the phone book. At the age of 18, she has finished her education and is at loose ends, still working in the dormitories at the institution where she was brought up. One day, after the asylum's trustees have made their monthly visit, Jerusha is informed by the asylum's dour matron that one of the trustees has offered to pay her way through college. He has spoken to her former teachers and thinks she has potential to become an excellent writer. He will pay her tuition and also give her a generous monthly allowance. Jerusha must write him a monthly letter, because he believes that letter-writing is important to the development of a writer. However, she will never know his identity; she must address the letters to Mr. John Smith, and he will never reply. Jerusha catches a glimpse of the shadow of her benefactor from the back, and knows he is a tall lon...

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Fiction, Teen/Young adult

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Diese Sammlung umfasst jede Art von deutschsprachigen Texten aller Genres, egal ob Fiktion, Non-Fiktion oder Lyrik.

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Short stories

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Diese Sammlung umfasst jede Art von deutschsprachigen Texten aller Genres, egal ob Fiktion, Non-Fiktion oder Lyrik. In dieser Sammlung finden sich: 01. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832): Bassompierres Geschichte von der schönen Krämerin aus Unterhaltungen deutscher Ausgewanderten. Ein erotisches Abenteuer. 02. Jules Verne (1828-1905): William Dampier oder der König des Meeres im 17. Jahrhundert. Ein Kurzbiographie aus dem Sachbuch Die Entdeckung der Erde. Bekannte und unbekannte Welten. 03. Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893): Ein Feigling.Was in der Seele eines Menschen vorgeht, der sich am nächsten duellieren will. 04. Klabund (Alfred Henschke) (1890-1928): Die Grille. Groteske aus dem Band Kunterbuntergang des Abendlandes. Was tut eine Grille, der der Stoff ausgeht? Stoff kaufen natürlich... 05. Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893): Die Hand. Welche Bewandtnis hat es mit dem schaeurlichen Souvenir, einer abgeschlagenen Hand, die mit einer eisernen Kette an der Wand befestigt ist? 06. Alexander Sergejewitsch Puschkin (1799–1837): Der Postmeister. Das Schicksal eines Postmeister und seiner schönen Tochter. 07. Alexander Sergejewitsch Pusch...

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Short stories

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Diese Sammlung umfasst jede Art von deutschsprachigen Texten aller Genres, egal ob Fiktion, Non-Fiktion oder Lyrik.

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Short stories

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Humphrey Challoner is a solitary old man who spent a lifetime collecting for his private museum, primarily mammals exhibiting osteological abnormalities but also 24 articulated human skeletons without any apparent defect. His friend, Dr. Wharton, is puzzled by the collection, but he humors Challoner's eccentricities and tends to him in his final illness. When Wharton inherits the collection on Challoner's death, the dark mystery that ties the collection together is finally revealed. (Summary by MaryAnn)...

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Mystery

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An entertaining selection of modern ghost stories selected to include specimens of a few of the distinctive types of modern ghosts, as well as to show the art of individual stories. Sure to please the love of the supernatural in all of us! (summary by J. M. Smallheer)...

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Horror/Ghost stories

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Diese Sammlung umfasst jede Art von deutschsprachigen Texten aller Genres, egal ob Fiktion, Non-Fiktion oder Lyrik. In dieser Sammlung finden sich: 01. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832): Die Sängerin Antonelli. Aus 'Unterhaltungen deutscher Ausgewanderten'. Nach dem Tod ihres Geliebten wird die Sängerin von einem Spuk verfolgt. 02. Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893): Der Blinde. Ein typisches Beispiel der unübertroffenen menschlichen Nächstenliebe: Maupassant beschreibt die Erinnerung an das traurige Martyrium eines Blinden der, da nicht arbeitsfähig - also nutzlos, von der Gesellschaft ausgestoßen und misshandelt wird. 03. Kurt Tucholsky (1890-1935): Der Loew' ist los. Der Löwe Wüstenkönig versetzt Berlin in Angst und Schrecken. Die Ordnung gerät schnell durcheinander, einige wissen die Situation auszunutzen, während Militär und Politik drastische Mittel einsetzen, um den gelangweilten Löwen in Schach zu halten. 04. Kurt Tucholsky (1890-1935): Das Elternhaus. Eine kurze Satire, die uns im Zoo durch verschiedene Elterngattungen führt und uns etwas über Erziehung beibringt. 05. Kurd Lasswitz (1848-1910): Die entflohene Blume. Kurd La...

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Short stories

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Diese Sammlung umfasst jede Art von deutschsprachigen Texten aller Genres, egal ob Fiktion, Non-Fiktion oder Lyrik.

Excerpt Details
Short stories

Description Details
Diese Sammlung umfasst jede Art von deutschsprachigen Texten aller Genres, egal ob Fiktion, Non-Fiktion oder Lyrik.

Excerpt Details
Short stories

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A gang of street kids, an anonymous radio announcer, a detective from the future, a presidential assassination attempt and a frequently mistaken narrator all play a part in this jumble of introductions to an open-source novel inspired by the works of Macedonio Fernandez. Cover painting by Delma Soult....

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The Pagan Madonna, one of Harold MacGrath's numerous novels, set in Shanghai, tells a story of intrigue, murder, and illicit art “collecting.” The paths of Jean Norman, a Red Cross nurse from the United States, Ling Foo, a shifty pawn shop keeper, and Anthony Cleigh, millionaire art collector, cross and recross in growing intrigue over a string of beads. It is a world where “. . . every move you make is governed by Chance--the Blind Madonna of the Pagan . . . .” (Introduction by Don Jenkins)...

Excerpt Details
Mystery

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This novel is based on the plot that describes the life of a young lady having worked as Assistant Professor at the University level. These days, she is engaged by a Trust, interested in promoting `mental illumination through peace of mind and self-confidence. She is going places to deliver lectures, keep in mind the aims of the organization as well as the composition of the audiences. In fact, since her infancy she is on the move from one part of India to another, even having no idea of the identity of the couple who parented her. Having been reared up by a domestic maid, she was obliged to inherit this type of job to earn for her livelihood. The onset of puberty in the proximity of unrelated men was to be withstood with caution and care for her chastity. These tours of lecturing around, once make her find a known lady in her audience in Delhi. This incident opens her the way to meet many people in this big city and take her to the person who fathered her. Here, she also gets the truthful information about her mother....

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Dear Madhu Ji, On my way back home I recapitulated, as my routine exercise, the discussions at the Coffee House. Can you recall the reaction of Mr Malik to Lal's outburst against the final outcome of Dhananjay Chakrovarty's legal battle to ward off the Capital punishment pronounced on him for rape and murder of a minor girl, when he himself was just 21 years? ……………..." I suppose Mr. Malik came out with some amusing retort, which made almost the entire group at the table giggle and I could not make out anything but only observe Mr. Malik move towards the toilets. Respected Sir, I clearly heard your `Guruji`, I mean Mr Malik, murmur aloud, “Is there any punishment available to your civilized society to punish an errant woman who voluntarily and actively seduces and commits rape on an innocent, uninitiated and in the prime of his youth?” “Do you mean a rape amongst a Lesbian fraternity?” Mr. Lal Singh speaks out smilingly. Mr. Malik simply hung his head down and spoke in his normal pitch, “I mean, on a companion belonging to the opposite sex.” Having uttered these words Guruji peacefully got up and moved in a gentle pace towards pu...

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The Rocket Book can be listened to while viewing a beautiful facscimile edition at the International Children's Digital Libarary (ICDL): http://www.childrenslibrary.org/icdl/SaveBook?bookid=newrock_00150085&lang=English http://childrenslibrary.org/ The Rocket Book begins when the son of a building superintendent sets a match to a rocket he discovered in the basement. Suddenly, the rocket blasts its way up through apartment after apartment in a high-rise, disrupting and transforming the humdrum goings-on of twenty families till it is finally stopped cold by something in the attic. An elliptical hole is punched in each of the book's pages and illustrations to signify where the rocket passed through every apartment! As in all of Newell's books, the verse on the verso-page provides commentary on the recto-page illustration. This book and Newell’s The Slant Book pioneered the “special format” children’s literature of today, such as pop-up books or cutout books like Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Newell’s books from 80 years ago have been reprinted, since Newell has undergone a resurgence in popularity much as Dr. Seuss’s books...

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Children