The thirty-four stories in this volume span Chekhov’s creative career. They present a wide spectrum of comic and serious themes and a variety of techniques. (His short novels, available in another Norton volume, Seven Short Novels by Chekhov, have been omitted.) Two of the stories have been translated for this edition by Professor Matlaw; the other translations, by Constance Garnett, Ivy Litvinov, and Marian Fell, have been revised in accordance with contemporary usage. Footnotes have been supplied wherever necessary to explain peculiarities of Russian life and the historical era in which Chekhov lived and wrote. Backgrounds includes a rich selection of Chekhov’s letters, in new translations by Professor Matlaw, and Gorky’s celebrated essay on Chekhov, translated by Ivy Litvinov. The critical essays offer general views of Chekhov’s art and achievement and detailed analyses of particular stories. The critics are D. S. Mirsky, A. B. Derman (whose essay has been translated from the Russian especially

It is the summer holidays and soon Harry Potter will be starting his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.Harry is Countiong the day:there are new spells to be learnt,more Quidditch to be played,and Hogwarts castle to continue exploring.But Harry needs to be carefulthere are unexpcted dangers lurking... J.K.Rowling contuinues to surprise and delight with the power of her rich,denanding and action-packed storytelling.

FROM THE WORLD FAMOUS ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY, THE FIRST AUTHORITATIVE, MODERNIZED, AND CORRECTED EDITION OF SHAKESPEARE’S FIRST FOLIO IN THREE CENTURIES. Skillfully assembled by Shakespeare’s fellow actors in 1623, the First Folio was the original Complete Works. It is arguably the most important literary work in the English language. But starting with Nicholas Rowe in 1709 and continuing to the present day, Shakespeare editors have mixed Folio and Quarto texts, gradually corrupting the original Complete Works with errors and conflated textual variations. Now Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen, two of today’s most accomplished Shakespearean scholars, have edited the First Folio as a complete book, resulting in a definitive Complete Works for the twenty-first century. Combining innovative scholarship with brilliant commentary and textual analysis that emphasizes performance history and values, this landmark edition will be indispensable to students, theater professionals, and general r

(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed) Introduction by PeterWashington; Translation by William Weaver Italo Calvino'smasterpiece combines a love story and a detective story into anexhilarating allegory of reading, in which the reader of the bookbecomes the book's central character. Based on a witty analogybetween the reader's desire to finish the story and the lover'sdesire to consummate his or her passion, IF ON A WINTER'S NIGHT ATRAVELER is the tale of two bemused readers whose attempts to reachthe end of the same book--IF ON A WINTER'S NIGHT A TRAVELER, byItalo Calvino, of course--are constantly and comically frustrated.In between chasing missing chapters of the book, the haplessreaders tangle with an international conspiracy, a roguetranslator, an elusive novelist, a disintegrating publishing house,and several oppressive governments. The result is a literarylabyrinth of storylines that interrupt one another--an ArabianNights of the postmodern age.

When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, she just thinks he has gone off by himself for a few days - as he has done before - and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home. But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine's disappearance than his wife realises. The novelist has just completed a manu* featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were published it would ruin lives - so there are a lot of people who might want to silence him. And when Quine is found brutally murdered in bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any he has encountered before ...A compulsively readable crime novel with twists at every turn, The Silkworm is the second in the highly acclaimed series featuring Cormoran Strike and his determined young assistant Robin Ellacott.

A ferocious political satire in the great tradition, Our Gangis Philip Roth’s brilliantly indignant response to the phenomenonof Richard M. Nixon. In the character of Trick E. Dixon, Roth shows us a man whooutdoes the severest cynic, a peace-loving Quaker and believer inthe sanctity of human life who doesn’t have a problem with killingunarmed women and children in self-defense. A master politicianwith an honest sneer, he finds himself battling the Boy Scouts,declaring war on Pro-Pornography Denmark, all the time trusting inthe basic indifference of the voting public.

Between the First World War and the Wall Street Crash the FrenchRiviera was the stylish place for wealthy Americans to visit. Amongthe most fashionable are the Divers, Dick and Nicole who hold courtat their villa. Into their circle comes Rosemary Hoyt, a film star,who is instantly attracted to them, but understands little of thedark secrets and hidden corruption that hold them together. As Dickdraws closer to Rosemary, he fractures the delicate structure ofhis marriage and sets both Nicole and himself on to a dangerouspath where only the strongest can survive. In this exquisite,lyrical novel, Fitzgerald has poured much of the essence of his ownlife; he has also depicted the age of materialism, shatteredidealism and broken dreams.

It is 1998, the year in which America is whipped into a frenzyof prurience by the impeachment of a president, and in a small NewEngland town, an aging classics professor, Coleman Silk, is forcedto retire when his colleagues decree that he is a racist. Thecharge is a lie, but the real truth about Silk would haveastonished even his most virulent accuser. Coleman Silk has asecret, one which has been kept for fifty years from his wife, hisfour children, his colleagues, and his friends, including thewriter Nathan Zuckerman. It is Zuckerman who stumbles upon Silk'ssecret and sets out to reconstruct the unknown biography of thiseminent, upright man, esteemed as an educator for nearly all hislife, and to understand how this ingeniously contrived life cameunraveled. And to understand also how Silk's astonishing privatehistory is, in the words of "The" "Wall Street Journal,""magnificently" interwoven with "the larger public history ofmodern America."

""He is a religious writer; he is a comic realist; he knows whateverything feels like, how everything works. He is putting togethera body of work which in substantial intelligent creation willeventually be seen as second to none in our time."--William H.Pritchard, The Hudson Review, reviewing Museums and Women (1972)" Aharvest and not a winnowing, "The Early Stories" preserves almostall of the short fiction John Updike published between 1954 and1975. The stories are arranged in eight sections, of which thefirst, "Olinger Stories," already appeared as a paperback in 1964;in its introduction, Updike described Olinger, Pennsylvania, as "asquare mile of middle-class homes physically distinguished by abend in the central avenue that compels some side streets todeviate from the grid pattern." These eleven tales, whose heroesage from ten to over thirty but remain at heart Olinger boys, arefollowed by groupings titled "Out in the World," "Married Life,"and "Family Life," tracing a common American trajectory. Familyl

In this now-classic tale--a terrifying variation on the traditional boys' adventure story--the brutal behavior of a group of English schoolboys left stranded on a deserted island after an atomic war is an allegory for the defects of society.

(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed) Introduction by CatherinePeters A panoramic satire of English society during the NapoleonicWars, Vanity Fair is William Makepeace Thackeray's masterpiece. Atits center is one of the most unforgettable characters innineteenth-century literature: the enthralling Becky Sharp, acharmingly ruthless social climber who is determined to leavebehind her humble origins, no matter the cost. Her more gentlefriend Amelia, by contrast, only cares for Captain George Osborne,despite his selfishness and her family's disapproval. As both womenmove within the flamboyant milieu of Regency England, the politicalturmoil of the era is matched by the scheming Becky's sensationalrise--and its unforeseen aftermath. Based in part upon Thackeray'sown love for the wife of a friend, Vanity Fair portrays thehypocrisy and corruption of high society and the dangers ofunrestrained ambition with epic brilliance and scathing wit.

Poor, plain spinster Bette is compelled to survive on thecondescending patronage of her socially superior relatives inParis: her beautiful, saintly cousin Adeline, the philanderingBaron Hulot and their daughter Hortense. Already deeply resentfulof their wealth, when Bette learns that the man she is in love withplans to marry Hortense, she becomes consumed by the desire toexact her revenge and dedicates herself to the destruction of theHulot family, plotting their ruin with patient, silent malice."Cousin Bette" is a gripping tale of violent jealousy, sexualpassion and treachery, and a brilliant portrayal of the grasping,bourgeois society of 1840s Paris. The culmination of the Comediehumaine, Balzac's epic chronicle of his times, it is one of hisgreatest triumphs as a novelist.

"The Story of the Stone" (c. 1760), also known by the title of"The Dream of the Red Chamber", is the great novel of manners inChinese literature. Divided into five volumes, of which "The Debtof Tears" is the fourth, it charts the glory and decline of theillustrious Jia family (a story which closely accords with thefortunes of the author's own family). The two main characters,Bao-yu and Dai-yu, are set against a rich tapestry of humour,realistic detail and delicate poetry, which accurately reflects theritualized hurly-burly of Chinese family life. But over and abovethe novel hangs the constant reminder that there is another planeof existence a theme, which affirms the Buddhist belief in asupernatural scheme of things.

A terrifying psychological trip into the life of one JosephK., an ordinary man who wakes up one day to find himself accused ofa crime he did not commit, a crime whose nature is never revealedto him. Once arrested, he is released, but must report to court ona regular basis--an event that proves maddening, as nothing is everresolved. As he grows more uncertain of his fate, his personallife--including work at a bank and his relations with his landladyand a young woman who lives next door--becomes increasinglyunpredictable. As K. tries to gain control, he succeeds only inaccelerating his own excruciating downward spiral.

One of the great works of American exploration literature,this account of a scientific expedition forced to survive famine,attacks, mutiny, and some of the most dangerous rapids known to manremains as fresh and exciting today as it was in 1874.

Lively and informed narrative by two expert authorities in their field. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed) Now joining Everyman'sLibrary--the most extensive and distinguished collectible libraryof the world's greatest works--is an appealing new collection in asmall Pocket Classics format, perfect for gift giving and readingpleasure. "Christmas Stories" is a treasury of short fiction bygreat writers of the past two centuries--from Dickens and Tolstoyto John Updike and Alice Munro. As a literary subject, Christmashas inspired everything from intimate domestic dramas to fancifulflights of the imagination, and the full range of its expression isrepresented in this wonderfully engaging anthology. Goblins frolicin the graveyard of an early Dickens tale and a love-struck ghostdisrupts a country estate in Elizabeth Bowen's "Green Holly." Theplight of the less fortunate haunts Chekhov's "Vanka" and WillaCather's "The Burglar's Christmas" but takes a boisterously comicturn in Damon Runyon's "Dancing Dan's Christmas" and in JohnCheever's "Christmas Is a Sad Season for the Poor." From VladimirN

"The Story of the Stone (c. 1760)", also known by the title of"The Dream of the Red Chamber", is the great novel of manners inChinese literature. Divided into five volumes, of which "TheWarning Voice" is the third, it charts the glory and decline of theillustrious Jia family (a story which closely accords with thefortunes of the author's own family). The two main characters,Bao-yu and Dai-yu, are set against a rich tapestry of humour,realistic detail and delicate poetry, which accurately reflects theritualized hurly-burly of Chinese family life. But over and abovethe novel hangs the constant reminder that there is another planeof existence - a theme which affirms the Buddhist belief in asupernatural scheme of things.

The Comedy of Errors has been popular on the stage during thelast three centuries and has proved itself admirably suited toadaptation as pure farce and musical spectacle. For this updatededition, Ros King has provided a completely new Introduction to theexisting text and commentary, in which she argues that the playcannot be regarded merely as a farcical romp based on a classicalmodel, but belongs to the critically misunderstood genre oftragi-comedy. In stressing the seriousness which underlies thestory, the Introduction picks out the play's religious imagery forspecial attention, whilst also engaging fully with the play's deftlightness of touch and its continuing popularity in the theatre. Afresh Reading List guides the reader towards further study.

(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed) Aanton Chekhov, widely hailedas the supreme master of the short story, also wrote five workslong enough to be called short novels-here brought together in onevolume for the first time, in a masterly new translation by theaward-winning translators Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky."The Steppe"-the most lyrical of the five-is an account of anine-year-old boy's frightening journey by wagon train across thesteppe of southern Russia. "The Duel "sets two decadent figures-afanatical rationalist and a man of literary sensibility-on acollision course that ends in a series of surprising reversals. In"The Story of an Unknown Man," a political radical spying on animportant official by serving as valet to his son graduallydiscovers that his own terminal illness has changed his long-heldpriorities in startling ways. "Three Years" recounts a complexseries of ironies in the personal life of a rich but passive Moscowmerchant. In "My Life," a man renounces wealth and social positionfo

Read by millions of students over seven editions, The Norton Anthology of English Literature remains the most trusted undergraduate survey of English literature available and one of the most successful college texts ever published. Firmly grounded by the hallmark strengths of all Norton Anthologies—thorough and helpful introductory matter, judicious annotation, complete texts wherever possible—The Norton Anthology of English Literature has been revitalized in this Eighth Edition through the collaboration between six new editors and six seasoned ones. Under the direction of Stephen Greenblatt, General Editor, the editors have reconsidered all aspects of the anthology to make it an even better teaching tool.

An entertaining series of 100 stories told in a country villa outside the city of Florence by ten young noble men and women seeking to escape the plague. Vivid portraits of people from all stations in life. An Oxford University Press World Classic.

(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed) Though James Joyce began thesestories of Dublin life in 1904 when he was twenty-two and completedthem in 1907, their unconventional themes and language led torepeated rejections by publishers and delayed publication until1914. In the century since, his story "The Dead" has come to beseen as one of the most powerful evocations of human loss andlonging that the English language possesses; all the other storiesin "Dubliners" are as beautifully turned and as greatly admired.They remind us once again that James Joyce was not only modernism'schief innovator but also one of its most intimate and poeticwriters. In this edition the text has been revised in keeping withJoyce's wishes, and the original versions of "The Sisters,""Eveline," and "After the Race" have been made available in anappendix, along with Joyce's suppressed preface to the 1914 editionof "Dubliners."