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  • 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
    by Jules Verne, Anthony Bonner, Leo Dillon, Diane Dillon
    ISBN 0688105351 (0-688-10535-1)
    Hardcover, William Morrow & Co

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    Book summary:

    Hold on tight as Captain Nemo takes you on a perilous journey deep beneath the ocean waves, into the incredible underwater world where lives the crew of the mighty submarine the Nautilus. When Nemo captures Professor Arronax; his servant, Conseil; and the harpoonist Ned Land, the prisoners join Nemo's breathtaking journey through the ocean's depths in search of long-lost revenge.

    In twelve dazzling full-color plates and dozens of two-color illustrations, two-time Caldecott Medalists Leo and Diane Dillion capture the beauty, grandeur, and suspense of this timeless tale. From the exploration of the lost city of Atlantis to the battle with a giant octopus to the mad genius of the organ-playing Captain Nemo, their art brings the classic words of Jules Verne to vivid life.

    More than one hundred years after its first publication, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea remains one of the most memorable adventure stories ever told. Now, with this beautifully illustrated and unabridged gift edition, a new generation can discover the excitement and imaginative power of Jules Verne's epic tale.

    [via]

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  • The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
    by Arthur Conan Doyle, Barry Moser
    ISBN 0688107826 (0-688-10782-6)
    Hardcover, William Morrow & Co

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    Book summary:

    The extraordinary adventures of the world-famous detective Sherlock Holmes, as faithfully recounted by his comrade, Dr. Watson, have captivated readers of all ages for over a century. The stories' blend of heartpounding, fast-paced action and mind-boggling deductive reasoning is as riveting today as it was when first published.

    This deluxe illustrated edition contains Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's first twelve stories and includes such famous cases as "The Red-headed League," in which Holmes uncovers a well-concealed, devilishly clever criminal plot; "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle," in which Holmes must trap a jewel thief--with astonishing results; "The Adventure of the Speckled Band," in which Holmes and Watson find themselves dealing with treachery, violence, and deadly snakes; and nine more equally thrilling and puzzling mysteries.

    Magnificently illustrated with twelve powerful watercolors by award-winning artist Barry Moser, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes features the complete text of the original collection of Doyle's short stories and is an ideal introduction to the fascinating world of this mesmerizing detective.

    [via]

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  • The Annotated Jules Verne, Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea
    by Jules Verne, Walter James Miller
    ISBN 0690011512 (0-690-01151-2)
    Hardcover, Crowell

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    Book summary:

    The year 1866 was signalised by a remarkable incident a mysterious and puzzling phenomenon which doubtless no one has yet forgotten. [via]

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  • Bull, Rene: The Arabian Knights
    The Arabian Knights
    by Rene Bull
    ISBN 0685168646 (0-685-16864-6)
    Hardcover, Random House Value Pub

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  • Faulkner, William: As I Lay Dying
    As I Lay Dying
    by William Faulkner
    ISBN 0701106654 (0-7011-0665-4)
    Hardcover, Chatto and Windus

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  • Reichs, Kathy: Bare Bones
    Bare Bones
    by Kathy Reichs
    ISBN 074345300X (0-7434-5300-X)
    Softcover, Pocket Star

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  • Beloved
    by Toni Morrison
    ISBN 0701130601 (0-7011-3060-1)
    Hardcover, Chatto & Windus

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    Book summary:

    Toni Morrison gently reads her own Pulitzer Prize-winning work in the unabridged version of this riveting tale of ex-slave Sethe and the beloved ghost that haunts her. While Morrison makes occasional odd pauses in her reading, what is lost in smoothness is more than made up for in quiet intensity as the author reads words obviously deeply felt. Her intimate knowledge of the characters and their motivations lends this reading an authority that helps the listener sort out the breaks in time and dialogue in this complex story of a woman coming to terms with her enslaved past and the loss of her husband and baby daughter. (Running time: 12 hours, eight cassettes) --Kimberly Heinrichs [via]

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  • Bookends
    by Jane Green
    ISBN 0718144562 (0-7181-4456-2)
    Hardcover, Michael Joseph

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    Book summary:

    Bookends, Jane Green's third comic novel of contemporary love and lust, proves beyond a doubt that when it comes to light reading, plot is everything. Bookends makes a great case study because it has little going for it besides plot. Dialogue? Stilted. Characters? Clichéd. Writing style? Sloppy. And yet the book is well-nigh impossible to put down. A few friends meet at university: Simon, the chirpy gay character; Portia, the glamour girl; Josh, the adorable, unpretentious catch; and Cath, the overweight, insecure narrator. Portia strays from their crowd, but the other three remain friends into their 30s. Now successful Londoners, each faces a personal crisis: singleton Cath leaves a secure job to start a bookstore; Simon looks for love; Josh's marriage goes through growing pains. And then Portia, as intimidating and elegant as ever, wanders back into their lives--with surprising results. Green is a past master of the ugly-duckling-turned-swan story. Cath's transformation--neatly echoed by the changes in the lives of her friends--is completely addictive. Plot does indeed rule. --Claire Dederer [via]

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  • Peters, Elizabeth: Borrower of the Night
    Borrower of the Night
    by Elizabeth Peters
    ISBN 0727846647 (0-7278-4664-7)
    Hardcover, Severn House Pub Ltd

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  • Brokeback Mountain : Now a Major Motion Picture
    by E. Annie Proulx
    ISBN 0743275306 (0-7432-7530-6)
    Hardcover, Simon & Schuster

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    Book summary:

    Annie Proulx has written some of the most original and brilliant short stories in contemporary literature, and for many readers and reviewers, "Brokeback Mountain" is her masterpiece.

    Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist, two ranch hands, come together when they're working as sheepherder and camp tender one summer on a range above the tree line. At first, sharing an isolated tent, the attraction is casual, inevitable, but something deeper catches them that summer.

    Both men work hard, marry, and have kids because that's what cowboys do. But over the course of many years and frequent separations this relationship becomes the most important thing in their lives, and they do anything they can to preserve it.

    The New Yorker won the National Magazine Award for Fiction for its publication of "Brokeback Mountain," and the story was included in Prize Stories 1998: The O. Henry Awards. In gorgeous and haunting prose, Proulx limns the difficult, dangerous affair between two cowboys that survives everything but the world's violent intolerance. [via]

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  • Brokeback Mountain: Story to Screenplay
    by Annie Proulx
    ISBN 0743271327 (0-7432-7132-7)
    Softcover, Simon & Schuster

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    Book summary:

    Annie Proulx has written some of the most original and brilliant short stories in contemporary literature, and for many readers and reviewers, "Brokeback Mountain" is her masterpiece.

    Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist, two ranch hands, come together when they're working as sheepherder and camp tender one summer on a range above the tree line. At first, sharing an isolated tent, the attraction is casual, inevitable, but something deeper catches them that summer.

    Both men work hard, marry, and have kids because that's what cowboys do. But over the course of many years and frequent separations this relationship becomes the most important thing in their lives, and they do anything they can to preserve it.

    The New Yorker won the National Magazine Award for Fiction for its publication of "Brokeback Mountain," and the story was included in Prize Stories 1998: The O. Henry Awards. In gorgeous and haunting prose, Proulx limns the difficult, dangerous affair between two cowboys that survives everything but the world's violent intolerance. [via]

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  • The Broker
    by John Grisham
    ISBN 0739325655 (0-7393-2565-5)
    Softcover, Random House Large Print

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    Book summary:

    Before he was sent to federal prison for treason (among other things), Joel Backman was an extremely powerful man. Known as "the broker," Backman was a high roller--a lawyer making $10 million a year who could "open any door in Washington." That is, until he tried to broker a deal selling access to the world's most powerful satellite surveillance system to the highest bidder. When caught, Backman accepted prison as the one option that would keep him safe and alive, since the interested parties (the Israelis, the Saudis, the Russians, and the Chinese) were all itching to get their hands on his secrets at any cost. Little does he know that his own government has designs on accessing that information--or at least letting it die with him. Now, six years after his incarceration, the director of the CIA convinces a lame duck president to pardon Backman, and the broker becomes a free man--and an open target.

    The Broker marries the best of John Grisham's many talents--his ability to immerse himself in the culture of small-town life (in this case, Bologna, Italy), and his uncanny mastery of the chase. The first half of the book focuses on Backman's transformation from infamous power broker to helpless victim in his own game. Upon his release from prison, Backman is taken into "protective custody" and whisked off to Italy where he is assigned a new identity, and a tutor to help him blend in. Sure he is on the run, but some readers may feel that Backman's time spent in Bologna is a bit too leisurely--readers join him on an almost cinematic tour through the Italian town, complete with language and history lessons. Impatient readers will be happy to know that the final half of the novel is classic Grisham--a fast-paced, thrilling cat and mouse chase pitting Backman against the numerous agencies that want him dead--as the broker makes a move to take back his life. --Daphne Durham

    Grisham: The Books

    • A Time to Kill, 1989
    • The Firm, 1991
    • The Pelican Brief, 1992
    • The Client, 1993
    • The Chamber, 1994
    • The Rainmaker, 1995
    • The Runaway Jury, 1996
    • The Partner, 1997
    • The Street Lawyer, 1998
    • The Testament, 1999
    • The Brethren, 2000
    • A Painted House, 2001
    • Skipping Christmas, 2001
    • The Summons, 2002
    • The King of Torts, 2003
    • Bleachers, 2003
    • The Last Juror, 2004
    • The Broker, 2005

    Essential Grisham
    Amazon Editor Favorites


    A Time to Kill
    The Firm
    A Painted House

    The Client
    The Rainmaker
    The Pelican Brief

    Bestselling Grisham
    Amazon Customer Favorites


    The Last Juror
    Skipping Christmas
    Bleachers

    The Testament
    The Partner
    The King of Torts

    Best Grisham Books on DVD


    A Time to Kill
    The Pelican Brief
    The Client

    The Firm
    The Rainmaker
    The Chamber

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  • Catch-22
    by Joseph Heller
    ISBN 0684865130 (0-684-86513-0)
    Hardcover, Simon & Schuster

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    Book summary:

    There was a time when reading Joseph Heller's classic satire on the murderous insanity of war was nothing less than a rite of passage. Echoes of Yossarian, the wise-ass bombardier who was too smart to die but not smart enough to find a way out of his predicament, could be heard throughout the counterculture. As a result, it's impossible not to consider Catch-22 to be something of a period piece. But 40 years on, the novel's undiminished strength is its looking-glass logic. Again and again, Heller's characters demonstrate that what is commonly held to be good, is bad; what is sensible, is nonsense.

    Yossarian says, "You're talking about winning the war, and I am talking about winning the war and keeping alive."
    "Exactly," Clevinger snapped smugly. "And which do you think is more important?"
    "To whom?" Yossarian shot back. "It doesn't make a damn bit of difference who wins the war to someone who's dead."
    "I can't think of another attitude that could be depended upon to give greater comfort to the enemy."
    "The enemy," retorted Yossarian with weighted precision, "is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on."
    Mirabile dictu, the book holds up post-Reagan, post-Gulf War. It's a good thing, too. As long as there's a military, that engine of lethal authority, Catch-22 will shine as a handbook for smart-alecky pacifists. It's an utterly serious and sad, but damn funny book. [via]

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  • Cell
    by Stephen King
    ISBN 0743292332 (0-7432-9233-2)
    Hardcover, Scribner

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    Book summary:

    Cell is an apocalyptic horror novel published by American author Stephen King in 2006. The story follows a New England artist struggling to reunite with his young son after a mysterious signal broadcast over the global cell phone network turns the majority of his fellow humans into mindless vicious animals. [via]

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  • Chapman's Homer: The Odyssey
    by Homer, Allardyce Nicoll, George Chapman
    ISBN 0691048916 (0-691-04891-6)
    Softcover, Princeton Univ Pr

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    Book summary:

    George Chapman's translations of Homer are among the most famous in the English language. Keats immortalized the work of the Renaissance dramatist and poet in the sonnet "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer." Swinburne praised the translations for their "romantic and sometimes barbaric grandeur," their "freshness, strength, and inextinguishable fire." The great critic George Saintsbury (1845-1933) wrote: "For more than two centuries they were the resort of all who, unable to read Greek, wished to know what Greek was. Chapman is far nearer Homer than any modern translator in any modern language." This volume presents the original text of Chapman's translation of the Odyssey (1614-15), making only a small number of modifications to punctuation and wording where they might confuse the modern reader. The editor, Allardyce Nicoll, provides an introduction, textual notes, a glossary, and a commentary. Garry Wills's preface to the Odyssey explores how Chapman's less strained meter lets him achieve more delicate poetic effects as compared to the Iliad. Wills also examines Chapman's "fine touch" in translating "the warm and human sense of comedy" in the Odyssey.

    Oft of one wide expanse had I been told

    That deep-browed Homer ruled as his demesne;

    Yet did I never breathe its pure serene

    Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold.

    --John Keats

    [via]

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  • The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
    by John Wilson
    ISBN 0706414004 (0-7064-1400-4)
    Hardcover, Smithmark Pub

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    Book summary:

    excellent hardcover book. great binding. soft cushiony cover. pages are excellent [via]

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  • Confessions of Saint Augustine
    by St. Augustine
    ISBN 0684846454 (0-684-84645-4)
    Softcover, Touchstone Books

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    In The Confessions, Saint Augustine addressed himself eloquently and passionately to the enduring spiritual questions that have stirred the minds and hearts of thoughtful men since time began. Written A.D. 397, The Confessions are a history of the young Augustine's fierce struggle to overcome his profligate ways and achieve a life of spiritual grace.

    The first ten books of the work relate the story of Augustine's childhood in Numidia; his licentious and riotous youth and early manhood in Carthage, Rome, and Milan; his continuous struggle with evil; his attempts to find an anchor for his faith among the Manicheans and the Neoplatonists; the untiring efforts of his mother, Saint Monnica, to save him from self-destruction; and his ultimate conversion to the Christian faith at the age of thirty-two.

    The last three books of The Confessions, unrelated to the preceding account of Saint Augustine's early life, are an allegorical explanation of the Mosaic account of Creation. Throughout the work, the narrative, addressed to God, is intersperse with prayers, meditations, and instructions, many of which today are to be found in the liturgies of all sects of the Christian Church.

    The Confessions constitute perhaps the most moving diary ever recorded of a soul's journey to grace. Appearing midway in Saint Augustine's prodigious body of theological writings, they stand among the most persuasive works of the sinner-turned-priest who was to exercise a greater influence on Christian thought than any of the other Church fathers. [via]

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  • Daddy's Little Girl
    by Mary Higgins Clark
    ISBN 0743460529 (0-7434-6052-9)
    Softcover, Pocket Books

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    Book summary:

    From Mary Higgins Clark, America's best-selling "Queen of Suspense," comes a dark and chilling story of murder, and its effects years later on the man convicted of the crime and the woman who helped convict him. It is a novel that takes the reader to the heights of suspense while exploring the depths of the criminal mind.

    *

    Ellie Cavanaugh was only seven years old when her fifteen-year-old sister, Andrea, was murdered near their home in Oldham-on-the-Hudson, a rural village in New York's Westchester County. There were three suspects: Rob Westerfield, nineteen-year-old scion of a wealthy, prominent family, whom Andrea has been secretly dating; Paul Stroebel, a sixteen-year-old schoolmate, who had a crush on Andrea; and Will Nebels, a local handyman in his forties.

    It was Ellie who had led her parents to a hideout in which Andrea's body was found -- a secret hideaway in which she met her friends. And it was Ellie who was blamed by her parents for her sister's death for not telling them about this place the night Andrea was missing. It was also Ellie's testimony that led to the conviction of the man she was firmly convinced was the killer. Steadfastly denying his guilt, he spent the next twenty-two years in prison.

    When he comes up for parole, Ellie, now an investigative reporter for an Atlanta newspaper, protests his release. Nonetheless, the convicted killer is set free and returns to Oldham. Determined to thwart his attempts to whitewash his reputation, Ellie also returns to Oldham, intent on creating a Website and writing a book that will conclusively prove his guilt. As she delves deeper into her research, however, she uncovers horrifying and heretofore unknown facts that shed new light on her sister's murder. With each discovery, she comes closer to a confrontation with a desperate killer.

    Gripping and relentlessly compelling, Daddy's Little Girl, a portrayal of a family shattered by crime, reflects Mary Higgins Clark's uncanny insight into the twisted mind of a killer and is further evidence of why she is America's favorite author of suspense. [via]

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  • Daddys Little Girl Trade Paper
    by Not Available
    ISBN 0743477219 (0-7434-7721-9)
    Softcover, Simon & Schuster

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    Book summary:

    Ellie Cavanaugh was seven years old when her older sister was murdered near their home in New York's Westchester County. It was young Ellie's tearful testimony that put Rob Westerfield, the nineteen-year-old scion of a prominent family, in jail despite the existence of two other viable suspects. Twenty-two years later, Westerfield, who maintains his innocence, is paroled. Determined to thwart his attempts to pin the crime on another, Ellie, an investigative reporter for an Atlanta newspaper, returns home and starts writing a book that will conclusively prove Westerfield's guilt. As she delves deeper into her research, however, she uncovers horrifying facts that shed new light on her sister's murder. With each discovery, she comes closer to a confrontation with a desperate killer. [via]

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  • Deception Point
    by Dan Brown
    ISBN 0743490304 (0-7434-9030-4)
    Hardcover, Pocket Books

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    Book summary:

    Penzler Pick, December 2001: In the world of page-turning thrillers, Dan Brown holds a special place in the hearts of many of us. After his first book, Digital Fortress, almost passed me by, he wrote Angels and Demons, which was probably one of the half-dozen most exciting thrillers of last year. It is a pleasure to report that his new book lives up to his reputation as a writer whose research and talent make his stories exciting, believable, and just plain unputdownable.

    The time is now and President Zachary Herney is facing a very tough reelection. His opponent, Senator Sedgwick Sexton, is a powerful man with powerful friends and a mission: to reduce NASA's spending and move space exploration into the private sector. He has numerous supporters, including many beyond the businesses who will profit from this because of the embarrassment of 1996, when the Clinton administration was informed by NASA that proof existed of life on other planets. That information turned out to be premature, if not incorrect. (This story is true; I repeat, Dan Brown's research is very, very good.) The embattled president is assured that a rare object buried deep in the Arctic ice will prove to have far-reaching implications on America's space program. The find, however, needs to be verified.

    Enter Rachel Sexton, a gister for the National Reconnaissance Office. Gisters reduce complex reports into single-page briefs, and in this case the president needs that confirmation before he broadcasts to the nation, probably ensuring his reelection. It's tricky because Rachel is the daughter of his opponent. Rachel is thrilled to be on the team traveling to the Arctic circle. She is a realist about her father's politics and has little respect for his stand on NASA, but Senator Sexton cannot help but have a problem with her involvement.

    Adventure, romance, murder, skullduggery, and nail-biting tension ensue. By the end of Deception Point, the reader will be much better informed about how our space program works and how our politicians react to new information. Bring on the next Dan Brown thriller! --Otto Penzler [via]

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  • The Emperor's Handbook: A New Translation of the Meditations
    by Marcus Aurelius, David V. Hicks, C. Scot Hicks
    ISBN 0743233832 (0-7432-3383-2)
    Hardcover, Simon & Schuster

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    Book summary:

    BEAR IN MIND THAT THE

    MEASURE OF A MAN IS THE WORTH OF THE THINGS HE CARES ABOUT.

    IF IT IS GOOD TO SAY OR DO

    SOMETHING, THEN IT IS

    EVEN BETTER TO BE CRITICIZED FOR

    HAVING SAID OR DONE IT.

    ARE MY GUIDING PRINCIPLES

    HEALTHY AND ROBUST? ON THIS HANGS EVERYTHING.

    Essayist Matthew Arnold described the man who wrote these words as "the most beautiful figure in history." Possibly so, but he was certainly more than that. Marcus Aurelius ruled the Roman Empire at its height, yet he remained untainted by the incalculable wealth and absolute power that had corrupted many of his predecessors. Marcus knew the secret of how to live the good life amid trying and often catastrophic circumstances, of how to find happiness and peace when surrounded by misery and turmoil, and of how to choose the harder right over the easier wrong without apparent regard for self-interest.

    The historian Michael Grant praises Marcus's book as "the best ever written by a major ruler," and Josiah Bunting, superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute, calls it "the essential book on character, leadership, duty." Never intended for publication, the Meditations contains the practical and inspiring wisdom by which this remarkable emperor lived the life not of a saintly recluse, but of a general, administrator, legislator, spouse, parent, and judge besieged on all sides.

    The Emperor's Handbook offers a vivid and fresh translation of this important piece of ancient literature. It brings Marcus's words to life and shows his wisdom to be as relevant today as it was in the second century. This book belongs on the desk and in the briefcase of every business executive, political leader, and military officer. It speaks to the soul of anyone who has ever exercised authority or faced adversity or believed in a better day. [via]

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  • Fairy Tales
    by Tiina Nunnally, Jackie Wullschlager, H.C. Andersen
    ISBN 0713996412 (0-7139-9641-2)
    Hardcover, Penguin Books

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    Book summary:

    A new selection of 30 tales to mark the 200 year anniversary of Andersen's birth in 2005. Tiina Nunnally's sparkling translation captures the rawness and immediacy of Andersen's style, for the first time enabling English readers to be as startled and amazed as his original readers were, and revealing the unique inventiveness of Andersen's genius. At a time when children's stories were formal, moral and didactic, Hans Christian Andersen revolutionized the genre, giving an anarchic twist to traditional folklore and creating a huge number of utterly original stories that sprang directly from his imagination. From the exuberant early stories such as The Emperor's New Clothes', though poignant masterpieces such as The Little Mermaid' and The Ugly Duckling', to the darker, more subversive later tales written for adults, the stories included here are endlessly experimental, both humorous and irreverent, sorrowful and strange. This book beautifully illustrated with a selection of Andersen's amazing paper cut-outs - will bring these magical tales to life for readers of any age. [via]

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  • Galsworthy, John: The Forsyte Saga
    The Forsyte Saga
    by John Galsworthy, Jojn Galsworthy
    ISBN 0743245024 (0-7432-4502-4)
    Softcover, Scribner

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    The three novels which make up The Forsyte Saga chronicle the ebbing social power of the commercial upper-middle class Forsyte family between 1886 and 1920. Galsworthy's masterly narrative examines not only their fortunes but also the wider developments within society, particularly the changing position of women. This is the only critical edition of the work available, with Notes that explain contemporary artistic and literary allusions and define the slang of the time. [via]

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  • Fountainhead
    by Ayn Rand
    ISBN 0684869713 (0-684-86971-3)
    Hardcover, Simon & Schuster

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    The Fountainhead is an unprecedented phenomenon in modern literature. Arguably the century's most challenging novel of ideas, when first published in 1943 it created a public furor and worldwide interest in its brilliant author, Ayn Rand.

    On the surface, it is a story of a gifted young architect, his violent battle with conventional standards, and his explosive love affair with the beautiful woman who struggles to defeat him. In his fight for success, he first discovers then rejects the seductive power of fame and money, finding that creative genius must ultimately triumph.

    This novel also addresses a number of universal themes: the strength of the individual, the tug between good and evil, the threat of fascism. The confrontation of these themes, along with the amazing stroke of Rand's writing, combine to give The Fountainhead its enduring influence. Indeed, it is as relevant today as it was when written. [via]

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  • Girls of Tender Age: A Memoir
    by Mary-ann Tirone Smith
    ISBN 0743279786 (0-7432-7978-6)
    Softcover, Simon & Schuster

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    Book summary:

    In Girls of Tender Age, Mary-Ann Tirone Smith fully articulates with great humor and tenderness the wild jubilance of an extended French-Italian family struggling to survive in a post-World War II housing project in Hartford, Connecticut. Smith seamlessly combines a memoir whose intimacy matches that of Angela's Ashes with the tale of a community plagued by a malevolent predator that holds the emotional and cultural resonance of The Lovely Bones.

    Smith's Hartford neighborhood is small-town America, where everyone's door is unlocked and the school, church, library, drugstore, 5 & 10, grocery, and tavern are all within walking distance. Her family is peopled with memorable characters -- her possibly psychic mother who's always on the verge of a nervous breakdown, her adoring father who makes sure she has something to eat in the morning beyond her usual gulp of Hershey's syrup, her grandfather who teaches her to bash in the heads of the eels they catch on Long Island Sound, Uncle Guido who makes the annual bagna cauda, and the numerous aunts and cousins who parade through her life with love and food and endless stories of the old days. And then there's her brother, Tyler.

    Smith's household was "different." Little Mary-Ann couldn't have friends over because her older brother, Tyler, an autistic before anyone knew what that meant, was unable to bear noise of any kind. To him, the sound of crying, laughing, phones ringing, or toilets flushing was "a cloud of barbed needles" flying into his face. Subject to such an assault, he would substitute that pain with another: he'd try to chew his arm off. Tyler was Mary-Ann's real-life Boo Radley, albeit one whose bookshelves sagged under the weight of the World War II books he collected and read obsessively.

    Hanging over this rough-and-tumble American childhood is the sinister shadow of an approaching serial killer. The menacing Bob Malm lurks throughout this joyous and chaotic family portrait, and the havoc he unleashes when the paths of innocence and evil cross one early December evening in 1953 forever alters the landscape of Smith's childhood.

    Girls of Tender Age is one of those books that will forever change its readers because of its beauty and power and remarkable wit. [via]

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  • Great Expectations
    by Charles Dickens, Charles Brown
    ISBN 0743487613 (0-7434-8761-3)
    Softcover, Pocket Classics

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    Book summary:

    An absorbing mystery as well as a morality tale, the story of Pip, a poor village lad, and his expectations of wealth is Dickens at his most deliciously readable. The cast of characters includes kindly Joe Gargery, the loyal convict Abel Magwitch and the haunting Miss Havisham. If you have heartstrings, count on them being tugged. [via]

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  • Hans Christian Andersen: Cuentos Fantasticos y De Animales, Cuentos Humoristicos y Sentimentales, La Sirenita, El Traje Nuevo Del Emperador / Fantastic and Animal Stories, Hom
    by H. C. Andersen, British Library
    ISBN 071230682X (0-7123-0682-X)
    Hardcover, British Library Board

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    Book summary:

    The stories of Hans Christian Andersen are known all over the world and he is one of the most translated authors of all time. Andersen's fame rests on his fairy tales and stories, written between 1835 and 1872, among the best known of which are "The Ugly Duckling," "The Little Mermaid," "The Princess and the Pea," "The Snow Queen," "The Nightingale," and "The Steadfast Tin Soldier." With these fairy tales, inspired by the great tradition of the Arabian Nights and by the brothers Grimm, Andersen became known as the father of the modern fairytale. Moreover, Andersen's works were original. Only twelve of his 156 known fairy stories drew on folktales. This complete collection of Andersen's stories is based on Jean Hersholt's classic translation.

    Andersen's stories have been widely illustrated by some of the best-known illustrators of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, in particular those of the Edwardian period - the Golden Age of illustration - including W. Heath Robinson, Arthur Rackham, Mabel Lucie Atwell, Kay Nielsen and Edmund Dulac. Around ninety of the stories are illustrated with reproductions of original illustrations from classic Edwardian to contemporary illustrators. In addition, there are thirteen newly commissioned illustrations for some of Andersen's less well-known stories.

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  • Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales
    by Hans Christian Andersen, Anthea Bell, Lisbeth Zwerger
    ISBN 0698400356 (0-698-40035-6)
    Hardcover, Minedition

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    Book summary:

    Originally published in 1991, this stunning collection of classic fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by internationally acclaimed artist Lisbeth Zwerger, has been expanded with three stories. It is also completely redesigned in the same handsome format as the artist's recently published Alice in Wonderland, A Christmas Carol, and The Wizard of Oz. The artist has selected eleven of her favorite tales-familiar stories such as "The Emperor's New Clothes," "The Princess and the Pea," and "The Nightingale," as well as lesser-known stories, such as "The Sandman," "The Jumpers," and "The Rose Tree Regiment." All are illustrated with Zwerger's signature style-marked by wit, grace, elegant simplicity, and insouciant charm. [via]

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  • Heart of Darkness and the Secret Sharer
    by Joseph Conrad
    ISBN 0743487656 (0-7434-8765-6)
    Softcover, Pocket Classics

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    Book summary:

    ENDURING LITERATURE ILLUMINATED BY PRACTICAL SCHOLARSHIP Two of Joseph Conrad's most compelling and haunting works, in which the deepest perceptions and desires of the human heart and mind are explored. EACH ENRICHED CLASSIC EDITION INCLUDES: A concise introduction that gives readers important background information A chronology of the author's life and work A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context An outline of key themes and plot points to help readers form their own interpretations Detailed explanatory notes Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience Enriched Classics offer readers affordable editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and insightful commentary. The scholarship provided in Enriched Classics enables readers to appreciate, understand, and enjoy the world's finest books to their full potential. SERIES EDITED BY CYNTHIA BRANTLEY JOHNSON [via]

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  • The House of Mirth
    by Edith Wharton
    ISBN 0743217179 (0-7432-1717-9)
    Softcover, Simon & Schuster

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    "The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth," warns Ecclesiastes 7:4, and so does the novel by Edith Wharton that takes its title from this call to heed. New York at the turn of the century was a time of opulence and frivolity for those who could afford it. But for those who couldn't and yet wanted desperately to keep up with the whirlwind, like Wharton's charming Lily Bart, it was something else altogether: a gilded cage rather than the Gilded Age.

    One of Wharton's earliest descriptions of her heroine, in the library of her bachelor friend and sometime suitor Lawrence Selden, indicates that she appears "as though she were a captured dryad subdued to the conventions of the drawing room." Indeed, herein lies Lily's problem. She has, we're told, "been brought up to be ornamental," and yet her spirit is larger than what this ancillary role requires. By today's standards she would be nothing more than a mild rebel, but in the era into which Wharton drops her unmercifully, this tiny spark of character, combined with numerous assaults by vicious society women and bad luck, ultimately renders Lily persona non grata. Her own ambivalence about her position serves to open the door to disaster: several times she is on the verge of "good" marriage and squanders it at the last moment, unwilling to play by the rules of a society that produces, as she calls them, "poor, miserable, marriageable girls.

    Lily's rather violent tumble down the social ladder provides a thumbnail sketch of the general injustices of the upper classes (which, incidentally, Wharton never quite manages to condemn entirely, clearly believing that such life is cruel but without alternative). From her start as a beautiful woman at the height of her powers to her sad finale as a recently fired milliner's assistant addicted to sleeping drugs, Lily Bart is heroic, not least for her final admission of her own role in her downfall. "Once--twice--you gave me the chance to escape from my life and I refused it: refused it because I was a coward," she tells Selden as the book draws to a close. All manner of hideous socialite beasts--some of whose treatment by Wharton, such as the token social-climbing Jew, Simon Rosedale, date the book unfortunately--wander through the novel while Lily plummets. As her tale winds down to nothing more than the remnants of social grace and cold hard cash, it's hard not to agree with Lily's own assessment of herself: "I have tried hard--but life is difficult, and I am a very useless person. I can hardly be said to have an independent existence. I was just a screw or a cog in the great machine I called life, and when I dropped out of it I found I was of no use anywhere else." Nevertheless, it's even harder not to believe that she deserved better, which is why The House of Mirth remains so timely and so vital in spite of its crushing end and its unflattering portrait of what life offers up. --Melanie Rehak [via]

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  • The Importance of Being Earnest
    by Oscar Wilde, Russell Jackson
    ISBN 071363040X (0-7136-3040-X)
    Softcover, Methuen Drama

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    Book summary:

    Wildes most popular play is considered his wittiest and finest comedy. The plays subtitle, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People hints at its clever wordplay, ingenious epigrams, and sly British humor. It is a story of multiple mistaken identitiesboth deliberate and unintentional- and what ultimately becomes a hilarious exercise in keeping everyones name and pseudonym straight.      

    First performed in 1895, it has enduring appeal as dramatic literature and in live theatrical performance. This edition includes an appendix with Wildes earlier versions of the play and deleted scenes that illustrate Wildes creative process.  

     

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  • The Last of the Mohicans
    by James Fenimore Cooper, Timothy Meis, N. C. Wyeth
    ISBN 0689840683 (0-689-84068-3)
    Hardcover, Atheneum

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    Chingachgook and Uncas are the last living members of the great Mohican tribe. Hawkeye, a colonial scout, is their companion and loyal friend. In the midst of the French and Indian War, the three take great risks to lead the two daughters of a British colonel to safety through the battle-torn northern wilderness. When the girls are captured by the vicious Huron tribe, Chingachgook, Uncas, and Hawkeye risk their very lives to rescue them.

    Carefully adapted for young readers, and featuring magnificent illustrations by N. C. Wyeth, Scribner Storybook Classics brings a dynamic introduction to James Fenimore Cooper's epic tale from his Leatherstocking series in which love, bravery, and loyalty are valued above all else.

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  • Baudelaire, Charles: Les Fleurs Du Mal
    Les Fleurs Du Mal
    by Charles Baudelaire
    ISBN 0685374092 (0-685-37409-2)
    Hardcover, Distribooks Inc

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  • Les Fleurs Du Mal
    by Richard Howard, Charles Baudelaire
    ISBN 0710804598 (0-7108-0459-8)
    Hardcover, Harvester Press

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  • Little Women
    by Louisa May Alcott, Joan W. Blos
    ISBN 0689835310 (0-689-83531-0)
    Softcover, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

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    A paperback edition of the classic novel Little Women shrinkwrapped with a gold-tone charm and necklace. [via]

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  • Alcott, Louisa May: Little Women, Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy
    Little Women, Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy
    by Louisa May Alcott, Trina Schart Hyman
    ISBN 0688140904 (0-688-14090-4)
    Hardcover, Harpercollins Childrens Books

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  • Madame Bovary
    by Gustave Flaubert
    ISBN 0685349004 (0-685-34900-4)
    Softcover, French & European Pubns

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    Book summary:

    Flaubert avait beau affirmer qu'il désirait faire du style le coeur d'un "livre sur rien", son premier roman n'en est pas moins un récit, un roman de la "fatalité", comme le souligne innocemment Charles Bovary, sans même savoir qu'il s'agit d'une fatalité d'ordre narratologique qui imbrique imperceptiblement les éléments du texte pour rendre l'issue inévitable. Tableau des Moeurs de province, Madame Bovary dépeint avec tant d'efficacité la dynamique de la frustration que le mélange d'ennui profond, d'apathie et d'exaltation romanesque qui caractérise son héroïne a donné naissance au terme de bovarysme. De Tostes à Yonville-l'Abbaye, Emma Bovary traîne sa morne existence jalonnée d'adultères. Certes, ses échappées à bord de l'Hirondelle, l'express qui relie Yonville à Rouen, pimentent sa vie. Mais elle est conduite par Hivert, vouée au retour ironique et incontournable. Quelles que soient les tentatives d'évasion, le bovarysme triomphe. Dans le portrait de cette petite bourgeoise normande, Flaubert a poussé l'écriture objective, neutralité indispensable afin de se fondre dans les personnages, au point de rendre si vivantes les aspirations d'Emma que le roman lui valut un procès. --Sana Tang-Léopold Wauters [via]

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  • Mere Christianity
    by C. S. Lewis
    ISBN 0684846381 (0-684-84638-1)
    Hardcover, Simon & Schuster

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    In 1941 England, when all hope was threatened by the inhumanity of war, C. S. Lewis was invited to give a series of radio lectures addressing the central issues of Christianity. More than half a century later, these talks continue to retain their poignancy. First heard as informal radio broadcasts on the BBC, the lectures were published as three books and subsequently combined as Mere Christianity. C. S. Lewis proves that "at the center of each there is something, or a Someone, who against all divergences of belief, all differences of temperament, all memories of mutual persecution, speaks with the same voice," rejecting the boundaries that divide Christianity's many denominations. This twentieth century masterpiece provides an unequaled opportunity for believers and nonbelievers alike to hear a powerful, rational case for the Christian faith.

    With a new foreword by Lewis's stepson, Douglas Gresham, this illustrated gift edition evokes the historic time and place of the book's creation.

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  • Eliot, George: The Mill on the Floss
    The Mill on the Floss
    by George Eliot
    ISBN 0701112468 (0-7011-1246-8)
    Hardcover, Random House Inc

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  • Mrs Dalloway
    by Virginia Woolf, G. Patton Wright
    ISBN 0701209933 (0-7012-0993-3)
    Hardcover, The Hogarth Press

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    As Clarissa Dalloway walks through London on a fine June morning, a sky-writing plane captures her attention. Crowds stare upwards to decipher the message while the plane turns and loops, leaving off one letter, picking up another. Like the airplane's swooping path, Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway follows Clarissa and those whose lives brush hers--from Peter Walsh, whom she spurned years ago, to her daughter Elizabeth, the girl's angry teacher, Doris Kilman, and war-shocked Septimus Warren Smith, who is sinking into madness.

    As Mrs. Dalloway prepares for the party she is giving that evening, a series of events intrudes on her composure. Her husband is invited, without her, to lunch with Lady Bruton (who, Clarissa notes anxiously, gives the most amusing luncheons). Meanwhile, Peter Walsh appears, recently from India, to criticize and confide in her. His sudden arrival evokes memories of a distant past, the choices she made then, and her wistful friendship with Sally Seton.

    Woolf then explores the relationships between women and men, and between women, as Clarissa muses, "It was something central which permeated; something warm which broke up surfaces and rippled the cold contact of man and woman, or of women together.... Her relation in the old days with Sally Seton. Had not that, after all, been love?" While Clarissa is transported to past afternoons with Sally, and as she sits mending her green dress, Warren Smith catapults desperately into his delusions. Although his troubles form a tangent to Clarissa's web, they undeniably touch it, and the strands connecting all these characters draw tighter as evening deepens. As she immerses us in each inner life, Virginia Woolf offers exquisite, painful images of the past bleeding into the present, of desire overwhelmed by society's demands. --Joannie Kervran Stangeland [via]

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  • My Antonia
    by Willa Cather, Alyssa Harad
    ISBN 0743487699 (0-7434-8769-9)
    Softcover, Pocket Classics

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    Book summary:

    It seems almost sacrilege to infringe upon a book as soulful and rich as Willa Cather's My Ántonia by offering comment. First published in 1918, and set in Nebraska in the late 19th century, this tale of the spirited daughter of a Bohemian immigrant family planning to farm on the untamed land ("not a country at all but the material out of which countries are made") comes to us through the romantic eyes of Jim Burden. He is, at the time of their meeting, newly orphaned and arriving at his grandparents' neighboring farm on the same night her family strikes out to make good in their new country. Jim chooses the opening words of his recollections deliberately: "I first heard of Ántonia on what seemed to be an interminable journey across the great midland plain of North America," and it seems almost certain that readers of Cather's masterpiece will just as easily pinpoint the first time they heard of Ántonia and her world. It seems equally certain that they, too, will remember that moment as one of great light in an otherwise unremarkable trip through the world.

    Ántonia, who, even as a grown woman somewhat downtrodden by circumstance and hard work, "had not lost the fire of life," lies at the center of almost every human condition that Cather's novel effortlessly untangles. She represents immigrant struggles with a foreign land and tongue, the restraints on women of the time (with which Cather was very much concerned), the more general desires for love, family, and companionship, and the great capacity for forbearance that marked the earliest settlers on the frontier.

    As if all this humanity weren't enough, Cather paints her descriptions of the vastness of nature--the high, red grass, the road that "ran about like a wild thing," the endless wind on the plains--with strokes so vivid as to make us feel in our bones that we've just come in from a walk on that very terrain ourselves. As the story progresses, Jim goes off to the University in Lincoln to study Latin (later moving on to Harvard and eventually staying put on the East Coast in another neat encompassing of a stage in America's development) and learns Virgil's phrase "Optima dies ... prima fugit" that Cather uses as the novel's epigraph. "The best days are the first to flee"--this could be said equally of childhood and the earliest hours of this country in which the open land, much like My Ántonia, was nothing short of a rhapsody in prairie sky blue. --Melanie Rehak [via]

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  • My Uncle Oswald
    by Roald Dahl
    ISBN 0718118162 (0-7181-1816-2)
    Hardcover, Joseph

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  • Naked Pictures of Famous People
    by Jon Stewart
    ISBN 0688171621 (0-688-17162-1)
    Softcover, Rob Weisbach Books

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    Sometimes it seems like every standup comedian worth his or her salt just has to do the book thing, and you might feel that yet another warmed-over stage routine is the last thing you need taking up valuable bookshelf space. Jon Stewart's book will come as an extremely pleasant surprise. He eschews the standard standup patter and instead gives us 18 short comic essays in a variety of styles that recall the prose work of Woody Allen, only with a few more references to genitals. Stewart proves himself a remarkably nimble humorist with a sharp eye for parody, whether he's writing "A Very Hanson Christmas" or "Adolf Hitler: The Larry King Interview."

    HITLER: ...Larry, look, I was a bad guy. No question. I hate that Hitler. The yelling, the finger pointing, I don't know ... I was a very angry guy.

    KING: And this ... new Hitler?

    HITLER: I get up at seven, have half a melon, do the jumble in the morning paper and then let the day take me where it will.... Me!! The inventor of the Blitzkrieg... When you stop having to control everything it's very freeing.

    Stewart is not afraid to flirt with bad taste, in fact, some of the pieces in this collection do for "flirting with bad taste" what Bill Clinton did for "not having sexual relations." But it's wonderful to see an edgy comedian taking on the traditionally cozy genre of the humorous essay, creating work that combines the wit of Robert Benchley with the energy and attitude of the best modern standup. Naked Pictures of Famous People proves that Jon Stewart is as comfortable, and accomplished, in front of a word processor as he is in front of an audience. --Simon Leake [via]

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  • Austen, Jane: Northanger Abbey
    Northanger Abbey
    by Jane Austen
    ISBN 0708988768 (0-7089-8876-8)
    Hardcover, Ulverscroft Large Print Books

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    Though Northanger Abbey is one of Jane Austen's earliest novels, it was not published until after her death--well after she'd established her reputation with works such as Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Sense and Sensibility. Of all her novels, this one is the most explicitly literary in that it is primarily concerned with books and with readers. In it, Austen skewers the novelistic excesses of her day made popular in such 18th-century Gothic potboilers as Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho. Decrepit castles, locked rooms, mysterious chests, cryptic notes, and tyrannical fathers all figure into Northanger Abbey, but with a decidedly satirical twist. Consider Austen's introduction of her heroine: we are told on the very first page that "no one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her born to be an heroine." The author goes on to explain that Miss Morland's father is a clergyman with "a considerable independence, besides two good livings--and he was not in the least addicted to locking up his daughters." Furthermore, her mother does not die giving birth to her, and Catherine herself, far from engaging in "the more heroic enjoyments of infancy, nursing a dormouse, feeding a canary-bird, or watering a rose-bush" vastly prefers playing cricket with her brothers to any girlish pastimes.

    Catherine grows up to be a passably pretty girl and is invited to spend a few weeks in Bath with a family friend. While there she meets Henry Tilney and his sister Eleanor, who invite her to visit their family estate, Northanger Abbey. Once there, Austen amuses herself and us as Catherine, a great reader of Gothic romances, allows her imagination to run wild, finding dreadful portents in the most wonderfully prosaic events. But Austen is after something more than mere parody; she uses her rapier wit to mock not only the essential silliness of "horrid" novels, but to expose the even more horrid workings of polite society, for nothing Catherine imagines could possibly rival the hypocrisy she experiences at the hands of her supposed friends. In many respects Northanger Abbey is the most lighthearted of Jane Austen's novels, yet at its core is a serious, unsentimental commentary on love and marriage, 19th-century British style. --Alix Wilber [via]

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  • The Odyssey
    by Homer, Martin Hammond
    ISBN 0715629581 (0-7156-2958-1)
    Softcover, Intl Pub Marketing Inc

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    This is the story of the return of Odysseus from Troy. Championed by Athene and hounded by the wrathful sea-god Poseidon, Odysseus encounters the ferocious Cyclops, escaping Scylla and Charybdis to reclaim his threatened home on Ithaca. The pack includes an introduction in book form. [via]

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  • Dickens, Charles: Oliver Twist
    Oliver Twist
    by Charles Dickens, Don Freeman
    ISBN 0688129110 (0-688-12911-0)
    Hardcover, HarperCollins Publishers

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    Book summary:

    This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1839 edition. Excerpt: ...and soft-hearted a mood by the very first eligible young fellow who appeals to your compassion; and I wish I were a young fellow that I might avail myself on the spot of such a favourable opportunity for doing so, as the present.  You are as great a boy as poor Brittles himself, returned Rose, blushing. Well, said the doctor, laughing heartily,  that is no very ditficult matter. But to return to this boy: the great point of our agreement is yet to come. He will wake in an hour or so, I dare say; and although I have told that thick-headed constablefellow down stairs that he mustnt be moved or spoken to, on peril of his life, I think we may converse with him without, danger. Now, I make this stipulation---that I shall examine him in your presence, and that if from what he says, we judge, and I can show to the satisfaction of your cool reason, that he is a real and thorough bad one (which is more than possible), he shall be left to his fate, without any further interference on my part, at all events.  Oh no, aunt l entreated Rose.  Oh yes, aunt! said the doctor. Is it a bargain? _  He cannot be hardened in vice, said Rose;  it is impossible.  Very good, retorted the doctor; then so much th6 more reason for acceding to my proposition. Finally the treaty was entered into, and the parties thereto sat down to wait with some impatience until Oliver should awake. The patience of the two ladies was destined to undergo a longer trial than Mr. Losberne had led them to expect, for hour alter hour passed on, and still Oliver slumbered heavily. It was evening, indeed, before th_e kind-hearted doctor brought... [via]

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  • Oliver Twist ; Great Expectations ; A Tale of Two Cities
    by Charles Dickens
    ISBN 0706416716 (0-7064-1671-6)
    Hardcover, Octopus Books

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    Book summary:

    Collectable Leather padded hardcover [via]

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  • The Other Boleyn Girl
    by Philippa Gregory
    ISBN 0743227441 (0-7432-2744-1)
    Softcover, Touchstone Books

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    Everyone knows the fate of Anne Boleyn, but not many know the story of her rise to majesty and the part played by her rival and sister, Mary, who was Henry's mistress and mother to two of his bastard children before the dazzling older Boleyn girl even caught his eye. Philippa Gregory, whose own role as the Queen of historical romance grows more secure with each new novel, has surpassed her self with this epic tale of lust, jealousy and betrayal. The Other Boleyn Girl charts the lives of both Boleyns--each in their turn "the other Boleyn Girl"--and their fiercely ambitious, conniving family who used the girls as pawns to advance their own positions at the court of Henry VIII. At 13, Mary is little more than a child when she is presented to Henry, ordered by her scheming family to serve her King and country by opening her legs whenever commanded, or doing anything else the great monarch desires. And while his loins are satisfied, life at court is sweet for the unofficial Queen and her pushy coterie. Inevitably though, the King's eyes soon begin to wander and Mary is overlooked, helpless to do anything but aid her family's plot to advance their fortunes, replace her with Anne and give Henry the greatest gift of all: a son and heir.

    So good a job has Ms Gregory done at portraying the Boleyns and Howards as selfish, scheming, treacherous manipulators however, that it becomes increasingly hard to feel empathy for any of them. While Mary is merely hapless, Anne is the most ruthless of them all, so that instead of feeling cheated by knowing the outcome of her story, it only serves to help digest her unpalatable rise. Such a gruesome destiny was never more deserved. Ms Gregory has worked hard at researching her historical references. Daily life at court is described in fascinating detail--from the relentless leisure pursuits, masques and banquets laid on for the easily bored King to the complex hierarchies and machinations of the courtiers. However, the fall of Queen Katherine of Aragon and her only child, the Princess Mary, and the politics of the competing European courts and the break with Rome are seen only as a backdrop to the bawdy goings-on of the Boleyns and their fateful race for the crown. --Carey Green [via]

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  • Hyde, Catherine: Pay It Forward
    Pay It Forward
    by Catherine Hyde
    ISBN 0743412028 (0-7434-1202-8)
    Softcover, Pocket Books

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  • Readings on My Antonia
    by Willa Cather, Christopher Smith
    ISBN 0737701803 (0-7377-0180-3)
    Softcover, Greenhaven Pr

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  • Romeo and Juliet
    by William Shakespeare, Paul Werstine, Barbara A. Mowat
    ISBN 0743477111 (0-7434-7711-1)
    Softcover, Washington Square Pr

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    Book summary:

    This is undoubtedly the greatest love story ever written, spawning a host of imitators on stage and screen, including Leonard Bernstein's smash musical West Side Story, Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet filmed in 1968, and Baz Luhrmann's postmodern film version Romeo + Juliet. The tragic feud between "Two households, both alike in dignity/In fair Verona", the Montagues and Capulets, which ultimately kills the two young "star-crossed lovers" and their "death-marked love" creates issues which have fascinated subsequent generations. The play deals with issues of intergenerational and familial conflict, as well as the power of language and the compelling relationship between sex and death, all of which makes it an incredibly modern play. It is also an early example of Shakespeare fusing poetry with dramatic action, as he moves from Romeo's lyrical account of Juliet--"she doth teach the torches to burn bright!" to the bustle and action of a 16th-century household (the play contains more scenes of ordinary working people than any of Shakespeare's other works). It also represents an experimental attempt to fuse comedy with tragedy. Up to the third act, the play proceeds along the lines of a classic romantic comedy. The turning point comes with the death of one of Shakespeare's finest early dramatic creations--Romeo's sexually ambivalent friend Mercutio, whose "plague o' both your houses" begins the play's descent into tragedy, "For never was a story of more woe/Than this of Juliet and her Romeo". --Jerry Brotton [via]

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  • The Ruins
    by Scott Smith
    ISBN 0739326929 (0-7393-2692-9)
    Hardcover, Random House Large Print

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    Book summary:

    In 1993, Scott Smith wowed readers with A Simple Plan, his stunning debut thriller about what happens when three men find a wrecked plane and bag stuffed with over 4 million dollars--a book that Stephen King called "Simply the best suspense novel of the year!" Now, thirteen years after writing a novel that turned into a pretty great movie featuring Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton, Smith is back, with The Ruins, a horror-thriller about four Americans traveling in Mexico who stumble across a nightmare in the jungle. Who better to tell readers if Smith has done it again than the undisputed King of Horror (and champion of Smith's first book)? We asked Stephen King to read The Ruins and give us his take. Check out his review below. --Daphne Durham

    Guest Reviewer: Stephen King

    Stephen King is the author of too many bestselling books to name here, but some of our favorites include: Cell, The Stand, On Writing, The Shining, and the entire Dark Tower series. King also received the National Book Foundation 2003 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, has had many movies and television miniseries adapted from his novels, short stories, and screenplays, and is a regular columnist for Entertainment Weekly. Keep your eyes peeled for Lisey's Story (October 2006), a new television series on TNT based on Nightmares & Dreamscapes (July 2007), and a graphic novel series based on the Dark Tower books coming from Marvel (2007).

    When I heard that Scott Smith was publishing a new novel this summer, I felt the way I did when my kids came in an hour or two late from their weekend dates: a combination of welcoming relief (thank God you're back) mingled with exasperation and anger (where the hell have you been?). Well, it's only a book, you say, and maybe that's true, but Scott Smith is a singularly gifted writer, and it seems to me that the twelve years between his debut--the cult smash A Simple Plan--and his return this summer with The Ruins is cause for exasperation, if not outright anger. Certainly Smith, who has been invisible save for his Academy Award-nominated screenplay for the film version of A Simple Plan, will have some 'splainin to do about how he spent his summer vacation. Make that his last twelve summer vacations.

    But enough. The new book is here, and the question devotees of A Simple Plan will want answered is whether or not this book generates anything like Plan's harrowing suspense. The answer is yes. The Ruins is going to be America's literary shock-show this summer, doing for vacations in Mexico what Jaws did for beach weekends on Long Island. Is it as successful and fulfilling as a novel? The answer is not quite, but I can live with that, because it's riskier. There will be reviews of this book by critics who have little liking or understanding for popular fiction who'll dismiss it as nothing but a short story that has been bloated to novel length (I'm thinking of Michiko Kakutani, for instance, who microwaved Smith's first book). These critics, who steadfastly grant pop fiction no virtue but raw plot, will miss the dazzle of Smith's technique; The Ruins is the equivalent of a triple axel that just misses perfection because something's wrong with the final spin.

    It's hard to say much about the book without giving away everything, because the thing is as simple and deadly as a leg-hold trap concealed in a drift of leaves&or, in this case, a mass of vines. You've got four young American tourists--Eric, Jeff, Amy, and Stacy--in Cancun. They make friends with a German named Mathias whose brother has gone off into the jungle with some archeologists. These five, plus a cheerful Greek with no English (but a plentiful supply of tequila), head up a jungle trail to find Mathias's brother&the archaeologists&and the ruins.

    Well, two out of three ain't bad, according to the old saying, and in this case; what's waiting in the jungle isn't just bad, it's horrible. Most of The Ruins's 300-plus pages is one long, screaming close-up of that horror. There's no let-up, not so much as a chapter-break where you can catch your breath. I felt that The Ruins did draw on a trifle, but I found Scott Smith's refusal to look away heroic, just as I did in A Simple Plan. It's the trappings of horror and suspense that will make the book a best seller, but its claim to literature lies in its unflinching naturalism. It's no Heart of Darkness, but at its suffocating, terrifying, claustrophobic best, it made me think of Frank Norris. Not a bad comparison, at that.

    One only hopes Mr. Smith won't stay away so long next time.--Stephen King


    [via]

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  • Sel 43 Tess D'urbervilles
    by S. E. L. 43 HUGMAN
    ISBN 071315506X (0-7131-5506-X)
    Softcover, Ashgate Publishing, Limited

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    Book summary:

    When John Durberyfield discovers a family connection to the ancient Norman family, the d'Urbervilles, the fate of daughter Tess is transformed. [via]

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  • Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
    ISBN 0706415663 (0-7064-1566-3)
    Hardcover, Xs Books

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  • State of Denial : Bush at War
    by Bob Woodward
    ISBN 0743272234 (0-7432-7223-4)
    Hardcover, Simon & Schuster

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    Book summary:

    "Insurgents and terrorists retain the resources and capabilities to sustain and even increase current level of violence through the next year.'' This was the secret Pentagon assessment sent to the White House in May 2006. The forecast of a more violent 2007 in Iraq contradicted the repeated optimistic statements of President Bush, including one, two days earlier, when he said we were at a ''turning point" that history would mark as the time "the forces of terror began their long retreat." State of Denial examines how the Bush administration avoided telling the truth about Iraq to the public, to Congress, and often to themselves. Two days after the May report, the Pentagon told Congress, in a report required by law, that the "appeal and motivation for continued violent action will begin to wane in early 2007." In this detailed inside story of a war-torn White House, Bob Woodward reveals how White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, with the indirect support of other high officials, tried for 18 months to get Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld replaced. The president and Vice President Cheney refused. At the beginning of Bush's second term, Stephen Hadley, who replaced Condoleezza Rice as national security adviser, gave the administration a 'D minus' on implementing its policies. A secret report to the new Secretary of State Rice from her counselor stated that, nearly two years after the invasion, Iraq was a "failed state." The book reveals that at the urging of Cheney and Rumsfeld, the most frequent outside visitor and Iraq adviser to President Bush is former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who, haunted still by the loss in Vietnam, emerges as a hidden and potent voice. Woodward reveals that the secretary of defense himself believes that the system of coordination among departments and agencies is broken, and in a secret May 1, 2006 memo Rumsfeld stated, that "the current system of government makes competence next to impossible." State of Denial answers the core questions: What happened after the invasion of Iraq? Why? How does Bush make decisions and manage a war that he chose to define his presidency? And is there an achievable plan for victory? [via]

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  • A Tale of Two Cities
    by Charles Dickens, Keith Cox
    ISBN 0743487605 (0-7434-8760-5)
    Softcover, Washington Square Pr

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    Book summary:

    This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. [via]

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  • Tales from the Arabian Nights
    ISBN 0721417590 (0-7214-1759-0)
    Hardcover, Ladybird Books Ltd

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    Book summary:

    The fables and legends of "Aladdin" and "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves", taken from the "Arabian Nights". In these two tales filled with mystery, intrigue and excitement, Aladdin and Ali Baba each make magical discoveries. [via]

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  • The Tempest
    by William Shakespeare, Paul Werstine, Barbara A. Mowat
    ISBN 0743482832 (0-7434-8283-2)
    Softcover, Pocket Classics

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    Book summary:

    In The Tempest, long considered one of Shakespeare's most lyrical plays, Prospero -- a magician on an enchanted island -- punishes his enemies, brings happiness to his daughter, and comes to terms with human use of supernatural power. The Tempest embodies both seemingly timeless romance and the historically specific moment in which Europe begins to explore and conquer the New World. Its complexity of thought, its range of characters -- from the spirit Ariel and the monster Caliban to the beautiful Miranda and her prince Ferdinand -- its poetic beauty, and its exploration of difficult questions that still haunt us today make this play wonderfully compelling.

    THE NEW FOLGER

    LIBRARY SHAKESPEARE

    Designed to make Shakespeare's great plays available to all readers, the New Folger Library edition of Shakespeare's plays provides accurate texts in modern spelling and punctuation, as well as scene-by-scene action summaries, full explanatory notes, many pictures clarifying Shakespeare's language, and notes recording all significant departures from the early printed versions. Each play is prefaced by a brief introduction, by a guide to reading Shakespeare's language, and by accounts of his life and theater. Each play is followed by an annotated list of further readings and by a "Modern Perspective" written by an expert on that particular play. [via]

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  • Miller, Nathan: Theodore Roosevelt: A Life
    Theodore Roosevelt: A Life
    by Nathan Miller
    ISBN 0688132200 (0-688-13220-0)
    Softcover, Harpercollins

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    Book summary:

    A comprehensive biography of Teddy Roosevelt covers the twenty-sixth president's life, from his sickly childhood, to San Juan Hill, to his ""Big Stick"" diplomacy and ""Square Deal"" domestic policies. 35,000 first printing. $35,000 ad/promo. BOMC & History Alt. [via]

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  • Mathers, E. Powys: The Thousand Nights and One Night
    The Thousand Nights and One Night
    by E. Powys Mathers, Mardrus
    ISBN 0710208693 (0-7102-0869-3)
    Hardcover, Marboro Books

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  • Three to Get Deadly
    by Janet Evanovich
    ISBN 0743267737 (0-7432-6773-7)
    Hardcover, Simon & Schuster

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    Book summary:

    As readers of Janet Evanovich's two previous books about funny, feisty, family-tied bounty hunter Stephanie Plum already know, she operates in "the burg"--a "comfy residential chunk of Trenton, New Jersey, where houses and minds are proud to be narrow and hearts are generously wide open." On this turf, Plum fights for justice and fashion points--this time in pursuit of a beloved neighborhood candystore owner who seems to be moonlighting as an anti-drug vigilante. Evanovich now lives in New Hampshire, but authentic affection for Trenton energizes her prose. Plums in paperback include One for the Money and Two for the Dough. [via]

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  • Tis: A Memoir
    by Frank McCourt
    ISBN 0684864495 (0-684-86449-5)
    Softcover, Simon & Schuster

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    Book summary:

    'Tis a blessing that the author narrates his own work. McCourt follows up his Audie Award-winning performance in Angela's Ashes with another brilliant reading as he chronicles his return to post-World War II New York. Like all good storytellers, McCourt has good stories to tell; 'Tis pulses with grim adversity and quiet triumphs--character-shaping moments that gain the listener's empathy. What makes McCourt a great storyteller is his ability to give these moments just the right amount of humor and perspective. His lyrical tones are wise but not weary; he's survived life's challenges to tell his tale. And while it may be trite to credit McCourt's verbal skills to his Irish heritage, these war stories were undoubtedly polished amongst friends in the pubs. 'Tis is Grammy material, and a perfect example of how an author's voice can enhance the written word. (Running time: 6 hours, 4 cassettes) --Rob McDonald [via]

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  • Peters, Elizabeth: Trojan Gold
    Trojan Gold
    by Elizabeth Peters
    ISBN 0689116217 (0-689-11621-7)
    Hardcover, Simon & Schuster

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  • Evanovich, Janet: Twelve Sharp
    Twelve Sharp
    by Janet Evanovich
    ISBN 0739326430 (0-7393-2643-0)
    Hardcover, Random House Large Print

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  • Vanishing Acts
    by Jodi Picoult
    ISBN 0743454553 (0-7434-5455-3)
    Softcover, Pocket Books

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    Book summary:

    How do you recover the past when it was never yours to lose? Delia Hopkins has led a charmed life. Raised in rural New Hampshire by her beloved, widowed father, she now has a young daughter, a handsome fiance, and her own search-and-rescue bloodhound, which she uses to find missing persons. But as Delia plans her wedding, she is plagued by flashbacks of a life she can't recall...until a policeman knocks on her door, revealing a secret about herself that changes the world as she knows it -- and threatens to jeopardize her future. With Vanishing Acts, Jodi Picoult explores how life -- as we know it -- might not turn out the way we imagined; how the people we've loved and trusted can suddenly change before our very eyes; how the memory we thought had vanished could return as a threat. Once again, Picoult handles an astonishing and timely topic with under-standing, insight, and compassion. [via]

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  • Tolstoy, Leo: War and Peace
    War and Peace
    by Leo Tolstoy, Constance Black Garnett
    ISBN 0690011083 (0-690-01108-3)
    Hardcover, Crowell

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  • The World's Great Classics
    ISBN 0717200019 (0-7172-0001-9)
    Hardcover, Xs Books

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    Book summary:

    Odyssey, The: The World's Great Classics, by Homer; tr. by S.H. Butcher and Andrew Lang [via]

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Spanish

  • Lo Es: Una Memoria
    by Frank McCourt, Alejandro Pareja
    ISBN 0743204239 (0-7432-0423-9)
    Softcover, Fireside

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    Book summary:

    The Spanish edition of the #1 New York Times bestseller, TIS is the story of Frank's American journey from impoverished immigrant with rotten teeth, infected eyes, and no formal education to brilliant raconteur and schoolteacher. Saved first by a straying priest, then by the Democratic party, then by the United States Army, then by New York University-- which admitted him on a trial basis, though he had no high school diploma-- Frank had the same vulnerable but invincible spirit at nineteen that he had at eight, and still has today. And TIS is a tale of survival as vivid, harrowing, and often hilarious as ANGELA'S ASHES. Yet again, it is through the power of storytelling that Frank finds a life for himself. TIS blesses readers with another chapter of McCourt's story, but as it closes, they will want still more. [via]

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