For deft plotting, riotous inventiveness, unforgettable characters, and language that brilliantly captures the lively rhythms of American speech, no American writer comes close to Mark Twain. This sparkling anthology covers the entire span of Twain’s inimitable yarn-spinning, from his early broad comedy to the biting satire of his later years. Every one of his sixty stories is here: ranging from the frontier humor of “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” to the bitter vision of humankind in “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg,” to the delightful hilarity of “Is He Living or Is He Dead?” Surging with Twain’s ebullient wit and penetrating insight into the follies of human nature, this volume is a vibrant summation of the career of–in the words of H. L. Mencken–“the father of our national literature.”

Valerie Simpson is a young female tennis star with a troubledpast who's now on the verge of a comeback and wants Myron as heragent. Myron, who's also got the hottest young male tennis star,Duane Richwood, primed to take his first grand slam tournament,couldn't be happier. That is, until Valerie is murdered in broaddaylight at the U.S. Open and Myron's number one client becomes thenumber one suspect. Clearing Duane's name should be easy enough.Duane was playing in a match at the time of Valerie's death. Butwhy is his phone number in Valerie's black book when he claims onlyto have known her in passing? Why was she calling him from a phonebooth on the street? The police stop caring once they pin themurder on a man known for having stalked Valerie and seen talkingto her moments before the murder. But Myron isn't satisfied. Itseems too clean for him. Myron pries a bit and finds himself pryingopen the past where six years before, Valerie's fiancee, the son ofa senator, was brutally murdered by a juvenile del

The House of Mirth tells the story of Lily Bart, aged 29, beautiful, impoverished and in need of a rich husband to safeguard her place in the social elite, and to support her expensive habits - her clothes, her charities and her gambling. Unwilling to marry without both love and money, Lily becomes vulnerable to the kind of gossip and slander which attach to a girl who has been on the marriage market for too long. Wharton charts the course of Lily’s life, providing, along the way, a wider picture of a society in transition, a rapidly changing New York where the old certainties of manners, morals and family have disappeared and the individual has become an expendable commodity. The House of Mirth was Published in October 1950 to widespread critical aclaim.it became an instant best-seller and is regarded today as one of Edith Wharton's most accomplished and compelling social satires.

The latest "New York Times" bestseller by "America's mostpopular suspense novelist" ("Rolling Stone") is the story ofHollywood's most dazzling star whose perfectly ordered life isunder siege by an insidious killer.

Dickens had already achieved renown with The Pickwick Papers. With Oliver Twist his reputation was enhanced and strengthened. The novel contains many classic Dickensian themes - grinding poverty, desperation, fear, temptation and the eventual triumph of good in the face of great adversity. Oliver Twist features some of the author's most enduring characters, such as Oliver himself (who dares to ask for more), the tyrannical Bumble, the diabolical Fagin, the menacing Bill Sykes, Nancy and 'the Artful Dodger'. For any reader wishing to delve into the works of the great Victorian literary colossus, Oliver Twist is, without doubt, an essential title.

Let number-one New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts fly you into Lunacy, Alaska, and into a colorful, compelling new novel about two lonely souls who find love - and redemtion... Lunacy was Nate Burke's last chance. As a Baltimore cop, he'd watched his partner die on the street - and the guilt still haunts him. With nowhere else to go, he accepts the job as chief of police in this tiny, remote Alaskan town, where the peace provides a balm for his shattered soul - and an unexpected affair with pilot Meg Galloway warms his nights... But other things in Lunacy are heating up. Nate suspects the killer in an unsolved murder still walks the snowy streets. His investigation will unearth the secrets and suspicions that lurk beneath the placid surface, as well as bring out the big-city survival instincts that made him a cop in the first place. And his discovery will threaten the new life - and the new love - that he has finally found for herself.

None of the great Victorian novels is more vivid and readable than The Mayor of Casterbridge. Set in theheart of Hardy's Wessex. the partly real, partly dreamcotintry' he founded on his native Dorset, it charts therise and self-induced downfall of a single man ofcharacter. The fast-moving and ingeniously contrivednarrative is Shakespearian in its tragic force, andfeatures some of the authors most striking episodesand brilliant passages of de*ion.

Black Beauty had a fine, soft black coat, one white foot and a silver star on his forehead. This tale tells of the horse's adventures and tjoys is perhaps the most famous animal story of all time.Tens of millions of copies have been sold,and it remains as pupular now as when it was first published over a century ago.

Set during the Napoleonic wars, Vanity Fair (1847-8) famously satirizes worldly society. The novel revolves around the exploits of the impoverished but beautiful and devious Becky Sharp, and Amelia Sedley, pampered child of a rich City merchant. Despite the differences in their fortunes and characters, they find their lives entangled from childhood. As Becky's maneuvering ingratiates her with high society, the financial ruin of Amelia's father forces Amelia into poverty. Destiny, of course, has further adventures in store for both women, whose lives Thackeray (1811-63) uses as theatres for the whims and foibles of their contemporaries. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. 作者简介： WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY was born in India to a long line of Yorkshire gentry recently mixed with equally ancient gentry. In 1817, two years after the death of his father a prosperous official of the East India Company, the boy was sent back to England. There he underwent

Filled with exciting tales of the frontier, the chronicle ofthe Sackett family is perhaps the crowning achievement of one ofour greatest storytellers.In The Warrior's Path, Louis L'Amourtells the story of Yance and Kin Sackett, two brothers who are thelast hope of a young woman who faces a fate worse than death. WhenYance Sackett's sister-in-law is kidnapped, he and Kin race northfrom Carolina to find her. They arrive at a superstitious town rifewith rumors--and learn that someone very powerful was behindDiana's disappearance. To bring the culprit to justice, one brothermust sail to the exotic West Indies. There, among pirates,cutthroats, and ruthless "businessmen," he will apply the skills helearned as a frontiersman to an unfamiliar world--a world where onefalse move means instant death.

‘I am writing to a rhythm and not to a plot’，Virginia Woolf stated of her eighth novel，The Waves。 Widely regarded as one of her greatest and most original works，it conveys the rhythms of life in synchrony with the cycle of nature and the passage of time。 Six children-Bernard，Susan，Rhoda，Neville，Jinny and Louis-meet in a garden close to the sea，their voices sounding over the constant echo of the waves that roll back and forth from the shore。 The subsequent continuity of these six main characters，as they develop from childhood to maturity and follow different passions and ambitions，is interspersed with interludes from the timeless and unifying chorus of nature。 In pure stream-of-consciousness style，Woolf presents a cross-section of multiple yet parallel lives，each marked by the disintegrating force of a mutual tragedy。 The Waves is her searching exploration of individual and collective identity，and the observations and emotions of life，from the simplicity and sur

With an Introduction and Notes by Doreen Roberts University of Kent at Canterbury 'Examine your words well, and you will find that even when you have no motive to be false, it is a very hard thing to say the exact truth, even about your immediate feelings...' Adam Bede (1859), George Eliot's first full-length novel, marked the emergence of an artist to rank with Scott and Dickens. Set in the English Midlands of farmers and village craftsmen at the turn of the eighteenth century, the book relates a story of seduction issuing in 'the inward suffering which is the worst form of Nemesis'. But it is also a rich and pioneering record - drawing on intimate knowledge and affectionate memory - of a rural world that we have lost. The movement of the narration between social realism and reflection on its own processes, the exploration of motives, and the constant authorial presence all bespeak an art that strives to connect the fictional with the actual.

Thomas Hardy's richly evocative novel opens with the arrival of Bathsheba in the village of Weatherbury to work the large, dilapidated farm that is her inheritance. The plot turns on her sentimental education, her infatuation for Sergeant Troy, a dazzling young cavalry officer, and her relationship with the shepherd-farmer, Gabriel Oak. Gabriel's strong presence permeates a drama of temptation,treachery and passion in which Bathsheba achieves a painful but necessary self-knowledge.

Mr Gradgrind wants "Facts'! And along with rich merchant Josiah Bounderby, he intends to turn Coketown into a world of calcula-tion and mechanization without any room for feelings. But people are not cogs - and society, it seems, is no machine ... PENGUIN POPULAR CLASSICS are the per-fect introduction to the world-famous PENGUIN CLASSICS series - which en-compasses the best books ever written, from Homer's Odyssey to Orwell's 1984 and everything in between. For a full list and ideas on what to read next, visit www.penguinclassics.com 作者简介： Charles Dickens was born in a little house in Landport, Portsea, England, on February 7th, 1812. At the age of eleven, Dickens was taken out of school and sent to work in a London blacking warehouse, where his job was to paste labels on bottles for six shillings a week. When the family fortunes improved, Charles went back to school, after which he became an office boy, a freelance reporter, and finally an author. With Pickwick Papers (1836-7) he achiev

ENDURING LITERATURE ILLUMINATED BY PRACTICAL SCHOLARSHIP The compelling, semiautobiographical story of an artist and his relationship to his culture, his family, and his inner self. 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 Enriche

Daisy Miller is one of Henry James's most attractive heroines: she represents youth and frivolity. As a tourist in Italy, her American freedom and freshness of spirit come up against the corruption and hypocrisy of European manners. From its first publication, readers on both sides of the Atlantic have quarrelled about her, defending or attacking the liberties that Daisy takes and the conventions that she ignores. All three tales in this collection, Daisy Miller, An International Episode and Lady Barbarina, express James's most notable subject, 'the international theme', the encounters, romantic and cultural, between Americans and Europeans. His heroes and heroines approach each other on unfamiliar ground with new freedoms, yet find themselves unexpectedly hampered by old constraints. In An International Episode, an English lord visiting Newport, Rhode Island, falls in love with an American girl, but their relationship becomes more complicated when she travels to London. In the light-hearted comedy

Cattlemen ride alone across the open range under the deadlyaim of roving desperadoes--Gamblers stake their fortunes and theirlives on a deck of cards--Strong-willed senoritas seek independencethrough an enticing combination of beauty, audacity, andspirit--Lawmen and outlaws walk the same dusty streets and speak acommon language: Colt, Winchester, Smith and Wesson. Gritty, tough,and unflinchingly authentic, here is the West as it really was: aland where for every friend there is an enemy, for every handshakea fist, for every dispute a resolution--usually in an explosiveshowdown of blood and bullets. In these remarkable tales, LouisL'Amour--like the very heroes he depicts--blazes a trail across theAmerican frontier and takes us on an unforgiving journey into theheart of our western heritage.

Castigated for offending against public decency, Madame Bovary has rarely failed to cause a storm. For Flaubert"s contemporaries, the fascination came from the novelist"s meticulous account of provincial manners. For the writer,subject matter was subordinate to his anguished quest for aesthetic perfection. For his twentieth-century successors the formal experiments that underpin Madame Bovary look forward to the innovations of contemporary fiction. Flaubert s protagonist in particular has never ceased to fascinate. Rornantic heroine or middle-class neurotic, flawed wife and mother or passionate protestor against the conventions of bourgeois society, simultaneously the subject of Flaubert s admiration and the butt of his irony - Emma Bovary remains one of the most enigmatic of fictional creations. Flaubert s meticulous approach to the craft of fiction, his portrayal of contemporary reality, his representation of an unforgettable cast of characters make Madame Bovary one of the major landmarks of mode

Set in the mid-nineteenth century and written from the author's first-hand experience, North and South follows thestory of the heroine's movement from the tranquil but moribund ways of southern England to the vital but turbulent north. Elizabeth Gaskell's skilful narrative uses an unusuallove story to show how personal and public I ves were woven together in a newly industrial society. This is a taleof hard-won triumphs - of rational thought over prejudice and of humane care over blind deference to the market.Readers in the twenty-first century will find themselvesabsorbed as this Victorian novel traces the origins of problems and possibilities which are still challenging a hundredand fifty years later: the complex relationships, public andprivate, between men and women of different classes.

William Shakespeare:Pericles Cymbeline The Winter's Tale The Tempest edited by David Bevington with a Foreword by Joseph Papp Bantam Classics

Filled with exciting tales of the frontier, the chronicle ofthe Sackett family is perhaps the crowning achievement of one ofour greatest storytellers. In Ride the Dark Trail L'Amour tells thestory of Logan Sackett, a cynical drifter who changes his ways tohelp a widow keep her land from falling into the wronghands.... Logan Sackett was wild and rootless, riding west in search ofeasy living. Then he met Emily Talon, a fiery old widow who waseven wilder than he was. Tall and lean, Em was determined to defendherself against the locals who were trying to steal her land. Logan didn't want to get involved, until he found out that Em hadbeen born a Sackett. Em was bucking overwhelming odds, but Loganwouldn't let her stand alone. For even the rebellious drifter knewthat part of being a Sackett was backing up your family when theyneeded you.

Oliver Twist is born in a workhouse and lives there until the day he pleads for more gruel Cast out into a harsh world, Oliver is taught to survive in London by Fagin and his gang of thieves. But can wits alone over-come poverty on the dangerous city streets?PENGUIN POPULAR CLASSICS are the per-fect introduction to the world-famous PENGUIN CLASSICS series - which en-compasses the best books ever written,from Homer's Odyssey to Orwell's 1984 and everything in between. For a full list and ideas on what to read next, visit www.penguinclassics.com

ENDURING LITERATURE ILLUMINATED BY PRACTICAL SCHOLARSHIP. A timeless, terrifying tale of one man's obsession to create life -- and the monster that became his legacy. 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