Service Alert
Delay in delivery of CDs
We are currently experiencing a delay with CD production. CDs are being sent and will be delivered as soon as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience.
We are currently experiencing a delay with CD production. CDs are being sent and will be delivered as soon as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Showing 1 - 20 of 7461 items
By Miroslav Krleza. 1938
From the great Croatian writer: a masterly work of literature—hilarious, unforgiving, and utterly reasonable Until the age of fifty-two, the…
protagonist of On the Edge of Reason suffered a monotonous existence as a highly respected lawyer. He owned a carriage and wore a top hat. He lived the life of “an orderly good-for-nothing among a whole crowd of neat, gray good-for-nothings.” But, one evening, surrounded by ladies and gentlemen at a party, he hears the Director-General tell a lively anecdote of how he shot four men like dogs for trespassing on his property. In response, our hero blurts out an honest thought. From this moment, all hell breaks loose. Written in 1938, On the Edge of Reason reveals the fundamental chasm between conformity and individuality. As folly piles upon folly, hypocrisy upon hypocrisy, reason itself begins to give way, and the edge between reality and unreality disappears.By Claude McKay. 1928
Claude McKay’s 1928 novel, Home to Harlem, is one of the most important works of the Harlem Renaissance. With raw,…
unflinching candor, McKay explores race, identity, love, and loss and gives voice to the plight of young Black men during the Jazz Age. Jake Brown, a Black American soldier and a World War I deserter, returns to Harlem and struggles to find his place in a vibrant working-class community that’s rife with poverty, crime, and racism. He meets various characters, including a displaced Haitian intellectual, prostitutes, hustlers, and jazz musicians, and he experiences everything from love and joy to despair and violence.By Elizabeth Bowen. 2024
It was an exciting time for young women of the 1920s as they embraced liberation from the pre–World War I…
traditions of their mothers. In the mild Mediterranean climate of the Italian Riviera, a rebellious young Sydney Warren cautiously tested her newfound freedom, developing an intimate relationship with the charming middle-aged widow Mrs. Kerr that caused rumors and speculation to stir among the wealthy British guests of a luxurious seaside hotel. A sapphic affair simmers beneath the surface of Elizabeth Bowen's captivating first novel, published in 1927. With its masterful storytelling, combined with Bowen’s keen observations and elegant prose, The Hotel beautifully illuminates the contrast between the tranquil Italian setting and the underlying tensions among the privileged characters. The novel is a thoughtful exploration of social norms, personal identity, and the subtle dynamics of group interaction, resulting in a rich story that often relies on what is left unsaid as much as what is written on the page.By Bruce Fulton. 2023
‘An ever-surprising and stylistically diverse anthology that will surely stand as the touchstone collection of Korean literature for decades to…
come’ Literary ReviewThis eclectic, moving and wonderfully enjoyable collection is the essential introduction to Korean literature. Journeying through Korea's dramatic twentieth century, from the Japanese occupation and colonial era to the devastating war between North and South and the rapid, disorienting urbanization of later decades, The Penguin Book of Korean Short Stories captures a hundred years of Korea's vibrant short-story tradition.Here are peddlers and donkeys travelling across moonlit fields; artists drinking and debating in the tea-houses of 1920s Seoul; soldiers fighting for survival; exiles from the war who can never go home again; and lonely men and women searching for connection in the dizzying modern city. The collection features stories by some of Korea's greatest writers, including Pak Wanso, O Chonghui and Cho Chongnae, as well as many brilliant contemporary voices, such as P'yon Hyeyong, Han Yujoo and Kim Aeran. Curated by Bruce Fulton, this is a volume that will surprise, unsettle and delight.Edited by Bruce FultonWith an introduction by Kwon YoungminBy Carson McCullers. 1998
An &“impeccable&” novel about race relations and responsibility set in the civil-rights-era South, by the author of The Heart Is…
a Lonely Hunter (The Atlantic Monthly). In a small Georgia town, pharmacist J. S. Malone, diagnosed with leukemia, is given a mere year to live—and a lifetime&’s worth of regret over years and opportunities wasted. Meanwhile, Judge Clane, still reeling from the suicide of his son, looks for meaning in the past and judgment in the present. Clane&’s grandson, Jester, seeks identity in the wake of his father&’s selfish act. And all three of them find their stories inexorably bound together as Sherman Pew, a young black man with blue eyes, looking to uncover the truth about his parentage, moves into a white neighborhood, thus upsetting the fragile balance of the town. &“One of the few first-rate novelists of our time,&” Carson McCullers deftly weaves a story of life and death, love and hate, progress and stagnation, a brilliant examination of the universal human experiences that at once bind us together and tear us apart (Kirkus Reviews).By Andre Norton. 2017
Three siblings search for a mystical sword and unearth family secrets in this adventure novel. Returning to &“Pirate&’s Haven,&”…
their ancestral home in the Louisiana bayou country near New Orleans, is something of an adventure for Ricky Ralestone and her two brothers, Rupert and Val. None of them had ever laid eyes upon the great old house, which was built by their pirate kin during the eighteenth century and was witness to so much romance and excitement through the years. Upon arrival, the Ralestones realize there is more in store than they bargained for. They discover secret rooms in the old house; an imposter attempts to gain possession of their property; a mysterious swamp boy comes into their lives; Ricky and Val are almost buried alive in an underground passage; and eventually, a series of thrilling events bring back the &“Luck&” and fortune of the Ralestones. Ralestone Luck is a story of present-day adventure and mystery, of modern young people, of action and sophisticated dialogue, which will delight all readers. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.By Willa Cather. 2019
Willa Cather’s best-loved novel, and the final book in the Great Plains trilogy, is a beautiful portrayal of friendship, longing…
and growing up in frontier Nebraska. When young orphan Jim Burden is sent to live with his grandparents in Nebraska, he finds himself growing up alongside Bohemian immigrant Ántonia Shimerda. Their childhoods are full of shared adventures but as they grow their paths diverge, spurred on by the dire poverty of the Shimerda family. Yet Jim will never forget Ántonia, spellbound by her strength and remarkable free spirit. WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY TRAVEL WRITER SARA WHEELERBy Arthur Conan Doyle. 2011
'If I were assured of your eventual destruction I would, in the interests of the public, cheerfully accept my own.'In…
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, the consulting detective's notoriety as the arch-despoiler of the schemes concocted by the criminal underworld at last gets the better of him.Though Holmes and his faithful sidekick Dr Watson solve what will become some of their most bizarre and extraordinary cases - the disappearance of the race horse Silver Blaze, the horrific circumstances of the Greek Interpreter and the curious mystery of the Musgrave Ritual among them - a criminal mastermind is plotting the downfall of the great detective. Half-devil, half-genius, Professor Moriarty leads Holmes and Watson on a grisly cat-and-mouse chase through London and across Europe, culminating in a frightful struggle which will turn the legendary Reichenbach Falls into a water double-grave . . .By Elizabeth Gaskell. 2012
"The rich know nothing of the trials of the poor; I say, if they don't know, they ought to know.…
We're their slaves as long as we can work; we pile up their fortunes with the sweat of our brows, and yet we are to live as separate as if we were in two worlds"Mary Barton, the heroine of Elizabeth Gaskell's novel, is beautiful but has been born poor. Her father fights for the rights of his fellow workers, but Mary wants to make a better life for them both. She rashly decides to reject her lover Jem, a struggling engineer, in the hope of marrying the rich mill-owner's son Henry Carson and securing a safe future. But when Henry is shot down in the street and Jem becomes the main suspect, Mary finds herself hopelessly torn between them. She also discovers an unpleasant truth - one that could bring tragedy upon everyone, and threatens to destroy her.The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.By Elizabeth Gaskell. 2008
'Gaskell's shocking, moving and contemporary account of the corrosive effects of injustice and poverty' Sunday Telegraph Mary Barton is the…
pretty daughter of a factory worker who finds herself dreaming of a better life when the mill-owner's charming son, Henry, starts to court her. She rejects her childhood friend Jem's affections in the hope of marrying Henry and escaping from the hard and bitter life that is the fate of the workers, who are resentfully dependent on the callous mill-owners for their livelihoods. But when Henry is shot dead in the street Jem becomes the prime suspect and Mary finds her loyalties tested to the limit.By Elizabeth Gaskell. 1996
Mary Barton is beautiful but has been born poor. Her father fights for the rights of his fellow workers, but…
Mary wants to make a better life for them both. She rashly decides to reject her lover Jem, a struggling engineer, in the hope of marrying the rich mill-owner's son Henry Carson and securing a safe future. But when Henry is shot down in the street and Jem becomes the main suspect, Mary finds herself hopelessly torn between them. She also discovers an unpleasant truth - one that could bring tragedy upon everyone, and threatens to destroy her.By Charles Maturin. 2012
With an essay by Alathea Hayter.'My hour is come ... the clock of eternity is about to strike, but its…
knell must be unheard by mortal ears!'This violent, profound, baroque and blackly humorous novel is the story of Melmoth, who has sold his soul in exchange for immortality in a satanic bargain, and now preys on the helpless in their darkest moments, offering to ease their suffering if they will take his place and release him from his centuries of tortured wanderings. Melmoth the Wanderer (1820) blended Gothic fiction and psychological realism to create a work of hallucinatory power.The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.By Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Shelley. 1991
These three works of fiction - two by Mary Wollstonecraft, the radical author of A Vindication of the Rights of…
Woman, and one by her daughter Mary Shelley, creator of Frankenstein - are powerfully emotive stories that combine passion with forceful feminist argument. In Mary Wollstonecraft's Mary, the heroine flees her young husband in order to nurse her dearest friend, Ann, and finds genuine love, while Maria tells of a desperate young woman who seeks consolation in the arms of another man after the loss of her child. And Mary Shelley's Matilda - suppressed for over a century - tells the story of a woman alienated from society by the incestuous passion of her father. Humane, compassionate and highly controversial, these stories demonstrate the strongly original genius of their authors.By Charles Maturin. 2000
Created by an Irish clergyman, Melmoth is one of the most fiendish characters in literature. In a satanic bargain, Melmoth…
exchanges his soul for immortality. The story of his tortured wanderings through the centuries is pieced together through those who have been implored by Melmoth to take over his pact with the devil. Influenced by the Gothic romances of the late 18th century, Maturin's diabolic tale raised the genre to a new and macabre pitch. Its many admirers include Poe, Balzac, Oscar Wilde and Baudelaire.By Charles Dickens. 2012
'I plainly see to what foul uses all this money will be put ... sowing perjury, hatred, and lies among…
near kindred, where there should be nothing but love'Old Martin Chuzzlewit, in despair at a family more interested in his wealth than his wellbeing, drives out his grandson and namesake. While the younger Martin leaves to make his own way in the world, love of money drives the hypocritical Pecksniff into scheming his way closer to the older man, and compels Jonas Chuzzlewit to even darker deeds. Dickens thought Martin Chuzzlewit 'in a hundred points immeasurably the best of my stories'. A sinister, funny novel of greed, selfishness, blackmail and murder, it also sees Dickens's scathing moral sense make the voyage to America.The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.By Charles Dickens. 1999
'Among the most powerful things Dickens ever did in fiction' GuardianGreed has led wealthy old Martin Chuzzlewit to become suspicious…
and misanthropic, leaving his grandson and name-sake to make his own way in the world. And so young Martin sets out from the Wiltshire home of his supposed champion, the scheming architect Pecksniff, to seek his fortune in America. In depicting Martin's journey Dickens created many vividly realized figures, from Martin's optimistic manservant Mark Tapley to the drunken and corrupt private nurse Mrs Gamp. With its portrayal of greed, blackmail and murder, and its searing satire on America, Dickens's novel is a powerful and blackly comic story of hypocrisy and redemption.Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Patricia InghamBy Charles Dickens. 2010
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY SIMON CALLOWWealthy old Martin Chuzzlewit is surrounded by a host of grasping, unscrupulous relatives and suspects…
the family vices of selfishness and greed are already showing in his grandson. The younger Martin is therefore cast out upon the world to learn to fend for himself. Apprenticed to the oily hypocrite Peckniff, he meets both the sweet-tempered Tom Pinch and the irrepressible Mark Tapley, with whom he sets forth to America to find his fortune. Dickens created some of his most gleefully repulsive and enduring characters in this tale of corruption and virtue, murder and unrequited love.By Wilkie Collins. 1998
Despite the grave misgivings of both their families, Valeria Brinton and Eustace Woodville are married. But before long the new…
bride begins to suspect a dark secret in her husband's past and when she discovers that he has been living under a false name, she determines to find out why he is concealing his true identity from her. Soon she must endure an even greater shock: the revelation that her husband has been on trial for poisoning his first wife. Convinced of his innocence, Valeria is prepared to do anything to clear her husband's name, and in so doing upturns the conventions of polite nineteenth century society.By Jane Austen. 2018
Why do we set so much store by marriage? Jane Austen was fascinated by this question, subjecting it to her…
forensic eye and wonderfully ironic wit again and again. Here are stolen glances and nervous advances, meddling parents and self-important cousins, society whisperings and the fluttering hearts of young lovers. All of them have their own views and expectations of marriage, and Austen’s are the wisest of all. Selected from the novels Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion by Jane Austen. VINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS. A series of short books by the world’s greatest writers on the experiences that make us humanBy Heinrich Kleist. 1978
In The Marquise of O-, a virtuous widow finds herself unaccountably pregnant. And although the baffled Marquise has no idea…
when this happened, she must prove her innocence to her doubting family and discover whether the perpetrator is an assailant or lover. Michael Kohlhaas depicts an honourable man who feels compelled to violate the law in his search for justice, while other tales explore the singular realm of the uncanny, such as The Beggarwoman of Locarno, in which an old woman's ghost drives a heartless nobleman to madness, and St Cecilia, which portrays four brothers possessed by an uncontrollable religious mania. The stories collected in this volume reflect the preoccupations of Heinrich von Kleist (1777-1811) with the deceptiveness of human nature and the unpredictability of the physical world.