Title search results
Showing 1 - 20 of 29 items
Not without laughter
By Langston Hughes. 1995
Steel city love song: extraordinary moments in ordinary lives
By Ann McKenna Fromm. 2007
Honors the author's city Pittsburgh and her family in dramatic stories about family members, doctors, paramedics, and ordinary Pittsburghers. Demonstrating…
insight and compassion, these articles are a "moving tribute to the human spirit."The polished hoe: a novel
By Austin Clarke. 2003
Award-winning novel set on a small Caribbean island, mid-twentieth century. Mary-Mathilda, servant and mistress of the village's plantation owner, summons…
detective Percy Stuart to confess to murder. Her nightlong statement, complicated by Percy's romantic feelings, reveals a sordid history. Explicit descriptions of sex, strong language, and some violence. 2003What you never knew about fingers, forks & chopsticks (Around-the-house history)
By Patricia Lauber, John Manders. 1999
Describes the development of eating customs and table manners from the Stone Age through modern days. Explains how knives, spoons,…
chopsticks, and eventually forks came into use and what was considered polite in different centuries and countries. For grades 2-4. 1999The best Christmas pageant ever: A Christmas Holiday Book For Kids
By Barbara Robinson. 2005
The Herdmans are the worst kids in town, so when they take over the lead roles in the church's annual…
Christmas pageant, they cause quite a commotion. For grades 4-7. 1972Omoo: adventures in the South Seas (Pacific Basin books)
By Herman Melville. 1985
This realistic novel recapitulates the ending of Typee (RC 9738), as a British whaler rescues Melville, an American sailor. He…
and the ship's doctor become fast friends and share many adventures in the South Pacific: mutiny, imprisonment, and a beachcombing existence in TahitiThe Grandissimes
By George Washington Cable, Michael Kreyling. 1988
The House Behind the Cedars
By Charles W. Chesnutt, Donald B. Gibson. 1993
An early masterwork among American literary treatments of miscegenation, Chesnutt's story is of two young African Americans who decide to…
pass for white in order to claim their share of the American dream.Five Gentlemen of Japan
By Frank Gibney. 2002
A newspaperman, an ex-Navy vice-admiral, a steel worker, a farmer, and the 124th Emperor of Japan himself-these are the fascinating…
heroes of Gibney's brilliant book about modern Japan. Strongly individual, everyone of them, the five yet share the common inheritance of Japan's precocious but unstable past.Through their lives and attitudes, Gibney gives us an invaluable analysis of this new sovereign nation so suddenly thrown into the world's power conflicts. He helps us understand the historical and social forces which make Japan what she is today-the old contracts and loyalties from which each of the Five Gentlemen is struggling to free himself and his country. Their courageous efforts to weld a new Japan from the remains of the old society, and to come to terms with the present, is as exciting as it is important. For, should they succeed, great hope for the free world lies in their success.The Marrow of Tradition
By Charles W. Chesnutt. 2002
Stay here beside her major I shall not he needed for an hour yet Meanwhile I…
ll go downstairs and snatch a bit of sleep or talk to oldJane The night was hot and sultry Though the windows of the chamber were wide open and the muslin curtains looped back not a breath of air was stirring Only the shrill chirp of the cicada and the muffled croaking of the frogs in some distant marsh broke the night silence The heavy scent of magnolias overpowering even the strong smell of drugs in the sickroom suggested death and funeral wreaths sorrow and tears the long home the last sleep The major shivered with apprehension as the slender hand which he held in his own contracted nervously and in a spasm of pain clutched his fingers with a viselike grip Major Carteret though dressed in brown linen had thrown off his coat for greater comfort The stifling heat in spite of the palm-leaf fan which he plied mechanically was scarcely less oppressive than his own thoughts Long ago while yet a mere boy in years he had come back from Appomattox to find his family one of the oldest and proudest in the state hopelessly impoverished by the war -even their ancestral home swallowed up in the common ruin His elder brother had sacrificed his life on the bloody altar of the lost cause and his father broken and chagrined died not many years later leaving the major the last of his line He had tried in various pursuits to gain a foothold in the new life but with indifferent success until he won the hand of Olivia Merkell whom he had seen grow from a small girl to glorious womanhood With her money he had founded the Morning Chronicle which he had made the leading organ of his party and the most influential paper in the State The fine old house in which they lived was hers In this very room she had first drawn the breath of life it had been their nuptial chamber and here too within a few hours she might die for it seemed impossible that one could long endure such frightful agony and liveThe Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man: The Autobiography Of An Ex-colored Man (Dover Thrift Editions)
By James Weldon Johnson. 1995
One of the most prominent African-Americans of his time, James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) was a successful lawyer, educator, social reformer,…
songwriter, and critic. But it was as a poet and novelist that he achieved lasting fame. Among his most famous works, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man in many ways parallels Johnson's own remarkable life. First published in 1912, the novel relates, through an anonymous narrator, events in the life of an American of mixed ethnicity whose exceptional abilities and ambiguous appearance allow him unusual social mobility -- from the rural South to the urban North and eventually to Europe. A radical departure from earlier books by black authors, this pioneering work not only probes the psychological aspects of "passing for white" but also examines the American caste and class system. The human drama is powerful and revealing -- from the narrator's persistent battles with personal demons to his firsthand observations of a Southern lynching and the mingling of races in New York's bohemian atmosphere at the turn of the century. Revolutionary for its time, the Autobiography remains both an unrivaled example of black expression and a major contribution to American literature.Tales of Conjure and The Color Line: 10 Stories (Dover Thrift Editions: Black History)
By Charles Waddell Chesnutt. 1998
Outstanding, affordably priced volume presents a selection of 10 best stories by a pioneer in the development of African-American fiction:…
"The Goophered Grapevine," "Po' Sandy," "Sis' Becky's Pickaninny," "The Wife of His Youth," "Dave's Neckliss," "The Passing of Grandison," "A Matter of Principle," "The Sheriff's Children," "Baxter's Procrustes," and "The Doll." Redolent with wit, charm, and insight; essential reading for students of African-American culture. Edited and with an Introduction by Joan Sherman.The Yellow Wall-Paper, Herland, and Selected Writings
By Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Denise D. Knight. 1999
A superb collection of fiction and poetry from a major feminist voice in American literature Wonderfully sardonic and slyly humorous,…
the writings of landmark American feminist and socialist thinker Charlotte Perkins Gilman were penned in response to her frustration with the gender-based double standard that prevailed in America as the twentieth century began. Perhaps best known for her chilling depiction of a woman?s mental breakdown in her unforgettable 1892 short story ?The Yellow Wall-Paper,? Gilman also wrote Herland, a cunning, wry novel that imagines a peaceful, progressive, environmentally conscious country from which men have been absent for two thousand years. Both are included in this volume, along with a selection of Gilman?s major short stories and her poems. .The Marrow of Tradition: Large Print (Dover Thrift Editions)
By Charles W. Chesnutt. 2020
In this landmark tale, one of the great American novelists exposed the harsh dimensions of Southern prejudice during post–Reconstruction era.…
Charles W. Chesnutt traces the intertwined lives of two prominent families: one headed by a newspaper editor and flagrant white supremacist; the other by the founder of a hospital for African Americans, whose biracial wife is the unacknowledged half-sister of the editor's wife. Their personal dramas unfold amid an atmosphere of public hysteria that erupts in a massacre — one based on an actual incident. The 1898 race riot of Wilmington, North Carolina, left a considerable number of African Americans dead and expelled thousands more from their homes. Chesnutt drew upon survivors' accounts, including those of members of his own family, for an authentic retelling of the facts. His powerful and passionate exploration of how miscegenation, social rank, and the concept of white supremacy gave rise to Jim Crow laws provides an insightful analysis of racial conflict at the turn of the twentieth century.The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao
By Martha Batalha. 2017
'Zesty' Daily Mail 'A real gem of a book' Stylist A wickedly funny tale of two rebellious sisters in 1940s…
Rio de Janeiro Euridice is bright and ambitious. But this is Brazil in the 1940s, and society expects her to be a loving wife and mother. While Antenor is busy congratulating himself on his excellent catch, Euridice spends her humdrum days ironing his shirts and removing the lumps of onion from his food, dreaming of the success she could have made of herself – as a writer, dressmaker or culinary whizz – in another life. Her free-spirited sister Guida, on the other hand, is the kind of person who was 'born knowing everything'. When she returns from her failed elopement with stories of heartbreak and loss, the lives of Euridice and her husband are thrown into confusion, with disastrous consequences. The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao is a darkly comic debut, bursting with vibrant Brazilian spirit and unforgettable characters – a jubilant novel about the emancipation of women.Red at the Bone: Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2020
By Jacqueline Woodson. 2019
THE TIMES '100 BEST SUMMER READS'NEW YORK TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLERLONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE 2020'Sublime' Candice Carty-Williams'An epic in…
miniature' Tayari Jones 'A banger' Ta-Nehisi Coates'Generous and big-hearted' Brit Bennett 'A true spell of a book' Ocean Vuong 'A proclamation' R.O. Kwon'A little masterpiece' Paula Hawkins'I adored this book' Elizabeth MacNeal'Pure poetry' Observer'A sharply focused gem' Sunday Times'Will remind you why you love reading' Stylist'Haunting' Guardian'A wonderful, tragic, inspiring story' Metro'Prose that sings off the page... Gorgeous' Mail on Sunday'A nuanced portrait of shifting family relationships' Financial Times'As seductive as a Prince bop' O, The Oprah Magazine'Razor-sharp' Vanity Fair'Dazzling... With urgent, vital insights into questions of class, gender, race, history, queerness and sex' New York Times An unexpected teenage pregnancy brings together two families from different social classes, and exposes the private hopes, disappointments and longings that can bind or divide us. From the New York Times-bestselling and National Book Award-winning author of Another Brooklyn and Brown Girl Dreaming. Brooklyn, 2001. It is the evening of sixteen-year-old Melody's coming of age ceremony in her grandparents' brownstone. Watched lovingly by her relatives and friends, making her entrance to the music of Prince, she wears a special custom-made dress - the very same dress that was sewn for a different wearer, Melody's mother, for a celebration that ultimately never took place.Unfurling the history of Melody's family - from the 1921 Tulsa race massacre to post 9/11 New York - Red at the Bone explores sexual desire, identity, class, and the life-altering facts of parenthood, as it looks at the ways in which young people must so often make fateful decisions about their lives before they have even begun to figure out who they are and what they want to be. *** ONE OF THE BOOKS OF THE YEAR FOR: New York Times; Washington Post; Time; USA Today; O, The Oprah Magazine; Elle; Good Housekeeping; Esquire; NPR; New York Public Library; Library Journal; Kirkus; BookRiot; She Reads; The Undefeated ***Miss Pinkerton (The hilda Adams Mysteries Ser. #1)
By Mary Roberts Rinehart. 1932
'A literary celebrity with few rivals ... she wrote more bestselling novels ... over a longer period than almost any…
other American writer' WASHINGTON POSTEveryone agrees that Herbert Wynne wasn't the type to commit suicide. But he has been found, shot dead, the only other possible killer his bedridden aunt.Inspector Patton of the Homicide Division sees this as the perfect opportunity to send in Hilda Adams, a nurse with a very special talent for detection. But when the sleuthing nurse arrives at the mansion, she finds more intrigue than anyone outside could possibly have imagined - and a killer on the loose...Quicksand and Passing (American Women Writers)
By Nella Larsen. 1986
"Quicksand and Passing are novels I will never forget. They open up a whole world of experience and struggle that…
seemed to me, when I first read them years ago, absolutely absorbing, fascinating, and indispensable."--Alice Walker "Discovering Nella Larsen is like finding lost money with no name on it. One can enjoy it with delight and share it without guilt." --Maya Angelou "A hugely influential and insightful writer." --The New York Times "Larsen's heroines are complex, restless, figures, whose hungers and frustrations will haunt every sensitive reader. Quicksand and Passing are slender novels with huge themes." -- Sarah Waters "A tantalizing mix of moral fable and sensuous colorful narrative, exploring female sexuality and racial solidarity."-Women's Studies International Forum Rutgers' all-time bestselling book, Nella Larsen's novels Quicksand (1928) and Passing (1929) document the historical realities of Harlem in the 1920s and shed a bright light on the social world of the black bourgeoisie. The novels' greatest appeal and achievement, however, is not sociological, but psychological. As noted in the editor's comprehensive introduction, Larsen takes the theme of psychic dualism, so popular in Harlem Renaissance fiction, to a higher and more complex level, displaying a sophisticated understanding and penetrating analysis of black female psychology.Privilege
By Guinevere Glasfurd. 2022
'Tightly plotted and hugely readable' Jane Rogers, author of PROMISED LANDS'Marvellous . . . fans of immersive historical fiction, the…
18th century, all things French and a dash of peril, this one's for you' Emily Brand, author of THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF BYRON'Glasfurd deftly, elegantly captures this volatile world of impoverished attic rooms and gilded literary salons' DAILY MAIL'I thought of the books we carried and the hands that would one day hold them. The pages read, turned and discussed. And how the book would become thought and the thought then become the person gone out into the world. Let Gilbert try and put a stop to that.'After her father is disgraced, Delphine Vimond is cast out of her home in Rouen and flees to Paris. Into her life tumbles Chancery Smith, apprentice printer sent from London to discover the mysterious author of potentially incendiary papers marked only D. In a battle of wits with the French censor, Henri Gilbert, Delphine and Chancery set off in a frantic search for D's author. But who is D and does D even exist?Privilege is a story of adventure and mishap set against the turmoil of mid-18th century France at odds with the absolute power of the King who is determined to suppress opposition on pain of death. At a time when books required royal privilege before they could be published - a system enforced by the Chief Censor and a network of spies - many were censored or banned, and their authors harshly punished. Books that fell foul of the system were published outside France and smuggled back in at great risk.Costa-shortlisted author Guinevere Glasfurd has conjured a vibrant world of entitlement and danger, where the right to live and think freely could come at the highest cost.La tribuna
By Emilia Pardo Bazán. 2015
In this novel are seen the political ideas of the writer through their/her characters. The laborer, as social layers appear…
her for the first time from the perspective of the Spanish novel. The crisis marked by the Revolution of 1868, the emancipation of the working woman and the labor demands of the incipient proletariat constitutes the spiritual atmosphere that involves the narrative world of this work.En esta novela se ven las ideas políticas de la escritora a través de sus personajes. El obrero, como capa social aparece aquí por primera vez en el panorama novelístico español. La crisis marcada por la Revolución de 1868, la emancipación de la mujer trabajadora y las reivindicaciones laborales del incipiente proletariado constituyen la atmósfera espiritual que envuelve el mundo narrativo de esta obra.