Autobiography And Other

Here are selections from Franklin???s newspaper articles, from the sage wisdom of Poor Richard???s Almanac, from his entertaining letters, from his scientific essays, from his political and revolutionary writings, plus a generous sampling of his famous aphorisms, poems, and humor. And, most important, here is a newly edited text of one of the most vital and important works of American literature, the Autobiography. As fascinating and as relevant as ever, this timeless collection of writings reveals an extraordinary man whose mind was always curious, always questioning, and who forever remained dedicated to the principles of truth and liberty.

Beowulf And Other Old English Poems

Unique and beautiful, Beowulf brings to life a society of violence and honor, fierce warriors and bloody battles, deadly monsters and famous swords. Written by an unknown poet in about the eighth century, this masterpiece of Anglo-Saxton literature transforms legends, myth, history, and ancient songs into the richly colored tale of the hero Beowulf, the loathsome man-eater Grendel, his vengeful water-hag mother, and a treasure-hoarding dragon. The earliest surviving epic poem in any modern European language. Beowulf is a stirring portrait of a heroic world???somber, vast, and magnificent.

Big Girl

'Watch out, world. Here I come!' For Victoria Dawson, growing up isn't a happy experience. Born to picture-perfect parents, she never feels pretty enough to meet their expectations. But when her parents have a second child, Victoria is thrilled - she can't help but adore her new baby sister Gracie. And since Gracie is the image of them, her parents finally have the perfect daughter they always wanted. Meanwhile Victoria still never seems to get it quite right - she battles with her weight, she's told she'll never find a man if she's too clever, and the one career she feels passionate about her parents don't approve of. And so Victoria decides to move to New York to fulfil her dreams and escape her family. Though her new life is exciting, the old temptations remain, and she continues to wage war with the scales. Victoria struggles to find a life far from the hurt and neglect of her childhood, the damage created by her parents, the courage to find freedom, and become who she really is at last.

Bittersweet

India Taylor lived in a world of manicured lawns and neatly-maintained calendars. With four wonderful children, India believed in commitment and sacrifice, just as she believed in Doug, the man she had married seventeen years before. She had chosen this life, not the award-winning career as a photojournalist she once had, and it was a choice she had never regretted - until she began to regret it with all her heart. India couldn't pinpoint the exact moment when the price of the sacrifices she she'd made began to seem high. But when she met Paul Ward, a Wall Street tycoon married to a bestselling author, India could share her dreams with him, and offer comfort when he suffered a heartbreak of his own. India hadn't planned to become Paul's friend, and anything more was unthinkable.When Paul urged India to reclaim her career, Doug was adamantly against it, determined to keep her tied to the home. But with Paul's encouragement India slowly, painfully, began to break free and find herself again.

Blind Willow Sleeping Woman

A young man accompanies his cousin to the hospital to check an unusual hearing complaint and recalls a story of a woman put to sleep by tiny flies crawling inside her ear; a mirror appears out of nowhere and a nightwatchman is unnerved as his reflection tries to take control of him; a couple's relationship is unbalanced after dining exclusively on exquisite crab while on holiday; a man follows instructions on the back of a postcard to apply for a job, but an unknown password stands between him and his mysterious employer. In each one of these stories Murakami sidesteps the real and sprints for the surreal. Everyday events are transcended, leaving the reader dazzled by this master of his craft.

Book Thief

"It???s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . . Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak???s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can???t resist???books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau. This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul."

Brave New World

The book begins with a lengthy introduction, detailing the author???s views of how he thinks the entire world will function in the far future, in a global society that he terms The World State. The individual story only begins in the 7th chapter, where the reader is properly introduced to the story of Bernard and Lenina, two inhabitants of the World State. Bernard has a single friend in life, whose name is Helmholtz Watson. Bernard and Lenina go on a holiday to New Mexico where they meet John the Savage and Linda, both of whom have lived hard lives due to being ostracised by all the people they lived with.

Chaos

Chaos brings together work in the field of chaos theory, an extension of classical mechanics, in which simple and complex causes are seen to interact. Mathematics may only be able to solve simple linear equations which experiment has pushed nature into obeying in a limited way, but now that computers can map the whole plane of solutions of non-linear equations a new vision of nature is revealed. The implications are staggeringly universal in all areas of scientific work and philosophical thought.

Chekhov : The Essential Plays

Because Chekhov???s plays convey the universally recognizable, sometimes comic, sometimes dramatic, frustrations of decent people trying to make sense of their lives, they remain as fresh and vigorous as when they were written a century ago. Gathered here in superb new renderings by one of the most highly regarded translators of our time???versions that have been staged throughout the United States, Canada, and Great Britain???are Chekhov???s four essential masterpieces for the theater.

Clear Light Of The Day

While their parents went to parties at Delhi's Roshanara Club, the children of the Das family brought themselves up, reading Byron, listening to the gramophone and watching over sad, alcoholic Mira masi. Many years later, the youngest, Tara now a mother of two has returned from America to the scene of her unusual, lonesome childhood. Here, as always, is her sister Bim, doggedly single college-lecturer and caretaker of all. In her presence, Tara sinks into the blissful torpor of home, at once her dreamy old self but careful as ever around her older sister. For at the heart of this reunion are numerous tensions: Tara feels the persistent guilt of having, like the others, abandoned Bim, their autistic brother Baba is increasingly unquiet and Bim has not spoken to their other brother, Raja, for years and refuses to go to his daughter's wedding. Clear Light of Day is vintage Anita Desai, a novel as wonderfully contemplative as a cup of afternoon tea.

Cockroaches : A Harry Hole Thriller

Detective Harry Hole arrives in a steaming hot Bangkok. The Norwegian ambassador has been found dead in a seedy motel room, and Harry has been sent to investigate. It???s clear that the Ambassador???s family are hiding some secrets of their own, but few people are willing to talk. He needs to solve a crime and avoid a scandal When Harry lays hands on some incriminating CCTV footage, things only get more complicated. The man who gave him the tape goes missing, and Harry realises that failing to solve a murder case is by no means the only danger that faces the unwary.

Collected Stories

???Desai creates unforgettable moments, both visual and emotional.??? Daily telegraph buried resentments, unexpected disappointments, new friendships, small acts of cruelty, journeys that take you back to where you started. With trade mark compassion and tender irony, Anita desai???s short stories give us familiar worlds made unfamiliar, to wonderful effect. An ageing couple is stranded in a stultifying Delhi summer by the visit of arogueish old oxford friend, who trades on his charm; an American woman turns to hippies living in the Indian hills, homesick for the farmlands of Vermont; a dog terrorizes the neighbourhood but is cherished by his stern master; a Delhi girl of slender means fiends a new kind of freedom with her young friends, in her barsati home; a peaceful game of hideand seek turns into a nightmare; a businessman sees his own death. For the first time ever,in one masterly volume, here are Anita desai???s collected stories ??? from her very first storyto her most recent one, published this year. ???Exquisite??? stories whose beauty is in the detail, and their knowledge of the humanpsyche. They sparkle, not with the brash glitter of rhinestones, but with the intenser, morecomplex fire of real diamonds.??? TheTtimes

Oliver Twist

This fiercely comic tale stands in marked contrast to its genial predecessor, The Pickwick Papers. Set against London's seedy back street slums, Oliver Twist is the saga of a workhouse orphan captured and thrust into a thieves' den, where some of Dickens's most depraved villains preside: the incorrigible Artful Dodger, the murderous bully Sikes, and the terrible Fagin, that treacherous ringleader whose grinning knavery threatens to send them all to the "ghostly gallows." Yet at the heart of this drama is the orphan Oliver, whose unsullied goodness leads him at last to salvation. In 1838 the publication of Oliver Twist firmly established the literary eminence of young Dickens. It was, according to Edgar Johnson, "a clarion peal announcing to the world that in Charles Dickens the rejected and forgotten and misused of the world had a champion."

Palestine

In late l991 and early 1992, at the time of the first Intifada, Joe Sacco spent two months with the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, travelling and taking notes. Upon returning to the United States he started writing and drawing Palestine, which combines the techniques of eyewitness reportage with the medium of comic-book storytelling to explore this complex, emotionally weighty situation. He captures the heart of the Palestinian experience in image after unforgettable image, with great insight and remarkable humour. The nine-issue comics series won a l996 American Book Award. It is now published for the first time in one volume, befitting its status as one of the great classics of graphic non-fiction.

Pegasus

One life-changing war. A love story that would echo across the decades... On the cusp of the Second World War in Europe, Nicolas and Alex are two widowed men raising their children alone. They lead contented, peaceful lives, until a long-buried secret about Nicolas's ancestry threatens his family's safety... To survive, they must flee to America. The only treasures Nicolas and his sons can take are eight purebred horses, two of them dazzling Lipizzaners gifts from Alex. These magnificent creatures are their ticket to a new life, securing Nicolas a job with the famous Ringling Brothers Circus. There, he and the white stallion, Pegasus, become the centrepiece of the show and a graceful young high-wire walker soon steals his heart. But as the years of war take their toll, Nicolas struggles to adapt to their new life while Alex and his daughter face escalating danger in Europe. When tragedy strikes on both sides of the ocean, what will become of each family when their happiness rests in the hands of fate? A beautiful story of fate love and loss, tied together by two families who were never meant to stay apart and the powerful bond that will link them forever, from the incomparable storyteller Danielle Steel

Peter Pan

Fly away with Peter Pan to the enchanted island of Neverland! This first chapter book adaptation of the classic novel, originally published in 1911, tells the story of the boy who never grows up. And when they join Peter on his magical island, Wendy and her brothers are in for exciting encounters with mermaids, an Indian princess, and pirates! Let the amazing adventures begin!

Private L.A.

The new novel in James Patterson's bestselling Private series.Jack Morgan is having a bad week. His twin brother is up on a murder charge and determined to frame him for the crime, and one of Jack???s clients has just called to report the burnt bodies of four surfers on his beach.But what seems like a random mugging gone wrong soon reveals something far worse ??? a killer calling themselves No Prisoners is holding the city to ransom. And there???s more bad news: Hollywood???s golden couple, Thom and Jennifer Harlow, have been kidnapped, along with their adopted children. It looks like the whole world is about to discover whether Private are really as good as they say they are???

The Rainmaker

A gripping courtroom thriller from the No. 1 bestselling master thriller writer.Rudy Baylor is a newly qualified lawyer: he has one case, and one case alone, to save himself from his mounting debts. His case is against a giant insurance company which could have saved a young man's life, but instead refused to pay the claim until it was too late. The settlement could be worth millions of dollars, but there is one problem: Rudy has never argued a case in court before, and he's up against the most expensive lawyers that money can buy.

Malice

At seventeen, on the night of her mother's funeral, Grace Adams is attacked. A young woman with secrets too horrible to tell, with hurts so deep they may never heal, Grace will not tell the truth about the attack. She is beautiful enough for men to want her, but after a lifetime of being a victim, now she must pay the price for other people's sins. From the depths of an Illinois women's prison to a Chicago modelling agency, and from there to a challenging career in New York, Grace carries the past with her wherever she goes. In healing her own pain, she reaches out to battered women and children who live a nightmare she knows only too well. When Grace meets Charles Mackenzie, a New York lawyer, she has found a man who wants nothing from her - except to heal her, to hear her secrets, and to give her the family she so desperately wants. But with happiness finally within her grasp, Grace is at her most vulnerable - in danger of losing everything to an enemy from her past, an enemy bent on malice. Danielle Steel has written an extraordinary women's story with rare insight and power. Portraying the struggle to triumph over malice and betrayal, she transforms a life of pain into a blessing for others. Revealing both the stark reality of domestic abuse and the healing power of love, Malice is more than powerful fiction. It is a piece of life.

Manto : Selected Short Stories

Saadat Hasan Manto's first collection of stories was published in the 1940s, but his stories have an enduring relevance. Now read by more people than ever before, the simple clarity of his stories about arginalized people, his astute understanding of the complexity of human nature and the poignancy of his stories on Partition transcend spatial and temporal boundaries many of his characters are legendary and his taut narratives are a great source of insight into the human condition. Widely regarded as one of the greatest short-story writers of the Subcontinent, Manto is now, a hundred years after his birth, also acknowledged as one of the most powerful voices of his time. An enigma in his lifetime, and plagued by financial troubles, alcoholism and legal persecution in the last years of his life, he draws a posthumous wave of near-universal admiration. Aatish Taseer's sensitive translation captures the lyricism and power of Manto's voice. Manto, Selected Stories, with two new stories, is a collection to be savoured by new readers and old fans of Manto alike.