Showing results by narrator "Jim Killavey" in All Categories

William Dean Howells was born in Martin's Ferry, Ohio, of Welch, Irish, and German forebears. Along with Mark Twain, he was one of the great novelists of his time. This book, the realisic saga of the rise and redemptive fall of an American tycoon, is considered to be his best novel.

When the name Abraham Lincoln is mentioned , we usually think of the highlights of his career.We think of Lincoln the politician, the statesman, the orator and the man who did away with slavery.What is not as well known, however, is that Lincoln did produce one piece of fiction, The Trailor Murder Mystery. When Lincoln was practicing law, it was common for lawyers to write summaries of their cases and present them as fiction.

Guy de Maupassant is considered one of the fathers of the modern short story as well as one of the form's finest writers. His stories are characterized by their economy of style and efficient, seemingly effortless dénouements

The Altar of the Dead was first published in the collection Terminations in 1895. It is a fable of life and death significance which explores what happens when a man tries to keep the remembrance of his dead friends, to save them from being forgotten entirely in the rush of everyday events.

Volume 5 of this popular series consists of the following stories: "The Books of Beasts" by Edith Nesbit, "Prince Sneeze" by Henry Beston, "Kind Little Edmund" by Edith Nesbit, "The Plate of Pancakes" by Maude Lindsey, "The Castle of Life" by Edward Deboulyea, "The Glass Dog" by L. Frank Baum, "The Country Called Nanomia" by Evelyn Sharp, "The Sea Dragon" by Alan McCall, "The Professor of Practical Jokes" by Evelyn Sharp...

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions is an 1884 science fiction novel. As a satire, Flatland offered pointed observations on the social hierarchy of Victorian culture. However, the book's more enduring contribution is its examination of dimensions. In a foreword to one of the many publications of the book, noted science fiction author Isaac Asimov described Flatland as “The best introduction one can find into the manner of perceiving dimensions.”

Bram Stoker created an incredible novel in Dracula. The success of the vampire novel unfortunately overshadowed most of his other writings. This volume contains nine of his best short stories, including the one in which the character of Dracula first appeared.

The Education of Henry Adams is among the oddest and most enlightening books in American literature. Henry Adams was the grandson of a president and the great-grandson of another one. He was also the son of the American Ambassador to England, and his secretery. As such he rubbed elbows, literally, with Presidents from Abraham Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt and with many of the great figures of his time.

The novel is a profound exploration of imitative rivalry and the duality of human consciousness. Told from the point of view of a rich and idle man who is confronted by a rival, the husband of his former, and now deceased, mistress, the story concerns the interchanging hatred and love of the two men.

A main-stay of British children's literature through the 1920's, The Water Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby was written by Rev. Charles Kinglsey as a serial for Macmillan's Magazine in 1862-63.

Although some of the author's opinions seem dated now, the journey of a little chimney-sweep water-baby through rivers and storms, under sea and over icebergs, is still a wonderful adventure tale for children. The book was adapted into an animated film in 1978 and produced as a play at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 2003.

Known for his comic sense, Earl Derr Biggers was one of the foremost writers of mystery and detective stories in this country. To his friends he was known for his comic sense. Seven Keys to Baldpate was his first novel and became extremely popular. In it, a famous author visits a closed summer resort at Baldpate Mountain in the middle of winter. He is looking for peace and quiet so that he can write his next book.

The American Civil War had ended, and the members of the American Gun Club tried to think of something else to interest them. At last they came up with the extraordinary idea of building the greatest cannon the world had ever seen and using it to launch a man-made "bullet" to the moon!

Oscar Wilde was one of the most versatile writers who ever lived. He wrote classic plays, including The Importance of Being Ernest; one wildly popular and influential novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray; and a number of inventive and moving stories in The Happy Prince and Other Tales.

Stories included in this volume are: "The Nightingale and the Rose", "The Devoted Friend", "The Happy Prince", "The Remarkable Rocket", and "The Selfish Giant".

When a volcano suddenly seems to erupt and threaten a mountain town of North Carolina, Inspector Strock is sent to determine the danger. When an automobile race in Wisconsin is interrupted by the unexpected appearance of a vehicle traveling at many times the top speed of the entrants, Strock is again consulted. And when an odd-shaped boat is sighted moving at impossible speeds off the New England coast, Stock and his boss begin to wonder if the incidents are related.

George MacDonald was a Scottish author known particularly for his poignant fairy tales and fantasy novels. He inspired many authors, including W. H. Auden, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Madeleine L'Engle and Mark Twain. C.S. Lewis that wrote that he regarded MacDonald as his "master". G. K. Chesterton cited "The Princess and the Goblin" as a book that had "made a difference to my whole existence".

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (original French title, Notre-Dame de Paris) is set in 1482 in Paris, in and around the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. It tells the story of a poor Gypsy girl (La Esmeralda) and a misshapen bell-ringer (Quasimodo), one of the most colorful characters in literature, who falls in love with her. They are both victimized by a corrupt priest (Claude Frollo) and begin an adventure filled with great peril and great heroism.

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is a classic in which Verne prophesized many modern uses of the submarine. The story concerns the now famous fictional character Captain Nemo and his submarine, Nautilus, as seen by one of his passengers, Professor Pierre Aronnax. Over the years there have been many film, TV, and theatrical adaptations and variations of the book.

Charles Fillmore was an American mystic known for his contributions to metaphysical interpretations of Biblical scripture. With the help of his wife, he founded Unity, a church within the New Thought movement. Prosperity is considered one of the top New Thought books of all time. In it, Fillmore shows how the lessons of Scripture hold the keys to prosperity.

While portraying life in a new settlement on New York's Lake Otsego in the final years of the 18th century, Cooper deftly explores the cultural and philosophical underpinnings of the American experience. He contrasts the natural codes of the hunter and woodsman, Natty Bumppo, and his Indian friend John Mokegan with the more rigid structure of law required by a more complex society.

Wallace D. Wattles was an American author and a pioneer in the New Thought Movement. His most famous book is The Science of Getting Rich, which continues to be immensely popular today. The Science of Being Well is a follow-up to that book. Wattles approach to health is basically the same is his approach to prosperity. He suggests that the reader think and act in a "Certain Way," which he explains, and that thinking and acting in that way, along with a positive approach will "make it so." Wallace explains his fairly simple keys to getting well and suggests that with faith and discipline one can stay well once health has been achieved. To quote the author, this book is, “For those who want health, and who want a practical guide and handbook, not a philosophical treatise. It is an instructor in the use of the universal Principle of Life, and my effort has been to explain the way in so plain and simple a fashion that the reader, though he may have given no previous study to New Thought or metaphysics, may readily follow it to perfect health.”