Eminent Shakespearean scholars Jonathan Bate and EricRasmussen provide a fresh new edition of Richard II,chronologically the first of the eight plays in Shakespeare’sHistory Cycle, which marks the beginning of a great schism withinthe nobility of England that will leave the nation riven by bloodyconflict for the next hundred years. This volume also includes morethan a hundred pages of exclusive features, including: ? an original Introduction to Richard II ? incisive scene-by-scene synopsis and analysis with vital factsabout the work ? commentary on past and current productions based on interviewswith leading directors, actors, and designers ? photographs of key RSC productions ? an overview of Shakespeare’s theatrical career and chronologyof his plays Ideal for students, theater professionals, and general readers,these modern and accessible editions from the Royal ShakespeareCompany set a new standard in Shakespearean literature for thetwenty-first

Folger Shakespeare Library The world's leading center for Shakespeare studies Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play Scene-by-scene plot summaries A key to famous lines and phrases An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language An essay by leading Shakespeare scholar, William C. Carroll, providing a modern perspective on the play Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs.

Wishing she could enjoy the freedoms and pleasures so casuallyenjoyed by ordinary women, orthodox rabbi's daughter Rachelanticipates her arranged marriage and imagines what her life willbe like. Reprint.

Joyce Carol Oates's Wonderland Quartet comprises fourremarkable novels that explore social class in America and theinner lives of young Americans. In "A Garden of Earthly Delights,"Oates presents one of her most memorable heroines, Clara Walpole,the beautiful daughter of Kentucky-born migrant farmworkers.Desperate to rise above her haphazard existence of violence andpoverty, determined not to repeat her mother's life, Clarastruggles for independence by way of her relationships with fourvery different men: her father, a family man turned itinerantlaborer, smoldering with resentment; the mysterious Lowry, whorescues Clara as a teenager and offers her the possibility of love;Revere, a wealthy landowner who provides Clara with stability; andSwan, Clara's son, who bears the psychological and spiritual burdenof his mother's ambition. A masterly work from a writer with "theuncanny ability to give us a cinemascopic vision of her America"("National Review"), "A Garden of Earthly Delights "is the openingstanza i

Every night for three years the vengeful King Shahriyar sleepswith a different virgin, executing her the next morning. To endthis brutal pattern and to save her own life, the vizier'sdaughter, Shahrazad, begins to tell the king stories of adventure,love, riches and wonder - tales of mystical lands peopled withprinces and hunchbacks, the Angel of Death and magical spirits,tales of the voyages of Sindbad, of Ali Baba outwitting a band offorty thieves and of jinnis trapped in rings and in lamps. Thesequence of stories will last 1,001 nights.

(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed) A famous legend surrounding thecreation of "Anna Karenina" tells us that Tolstoy began writing acautionary tale about adultery and ended up falling in love withhis magnificent heroine. It is rare to find a reader of the bookwho doesn't experience the same kind of emotional upheaval. AnnaKarenina is filled with major and minor characters who exist intheir own right and fully embody their mid-nineteenth-centuryRussian milieu, but it still belongs entirely to the woman whosename it bears, whose portrait is one of the truest ever made by awriter. Translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude

A philosopher and his disciple journey to find "the best of all possible worlds" in this classic work of eighteenth-century satire. 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 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 wo

aNo other popular writer of his time did any better writingthan you will find in The Call of the Wild.a--H. L. Mencken One ofthe greatest American storytellers, Jack London enjoyed phenomenalpopularity in his own time and remains widely read throughout theworld. His work is characterized by thrilling action, an intuitivefeeling for animal life, and a sense of justice that oftenmanifests itself through violence. "The Call of the Wild," perhapsthe best novel ever written about animals, traces a dogas suddenentry into the wild and his education in survival among the wolves.Library of America Paperback Classics feature authoritative textsdrawn from the acclaimed Library of America series and introducedby todayas most distinguished scholars and writers. Each bookfeatures a detailed chronology of the authoras life and career, andessay on the choice of the text, and notes. The contents of thisPaperback Classic are drawn from "Jack London: Novels and Stories,"volume number 6 in The Library of America series. I

"The Age of Innocence," one of Edith Wharton's mostrenowned novels and the first by a woman to win the Pulitzer Prize,exquisitely details the struggle between love and responsibilitythrough the experiences of men and women in Gilded Age New York.The novel follows Newland Archer, a young, aristocratic lawyerengaged to the cloistered, beautiful May Welland. When May'sdisgraced cousin Ellen arrives from Europe, fleeing her marriage toa Polish Count, her worldly, independent nature intrigues Archer,who soon falls in love with her. Trapped by his passionlessrelationship with May and the social conventions that forbid arelationship with Ellen, Archer finds himself torn betweenpossibility and duty. Wharton's profound understanding of hercharacters' lives makes the triangle of Archer, May, and Ellen cometo life with an irresistible urgency. A wry, incisive look at theways in which love and emotion must negotiate the complex rules ofhigh society, "The Age of Innocence" is one of Wharton's finest,most illuminative w

This is the story of an artist as an aging man, strugglingthrough the wreckage of Japan's World War II experience. Ishiguro'sfirst novel.

Upon its publication in 1857, "Little Dorrit" immediatelyoutsold any of Dickens's previous books. The story of WilliamDorrit, imprisoned for debt in Marshalsea Prison, and his daughterand helpmate, Amy, or Little Dorrit, the novel charts the progressof the Dorrit family from poverty to riches. In his Introduction,David Gates argues that "intensity of imagination is the gift fromwhich Dickens's other great attributes derive: his eye and ear, hisnear-universal empathy, his ability to entertain both a sense ofthe ridiculous and a sense of ultimate significance." This ModernLibrary Paperback Classic is set from the text of the 1857edition.

An iconic novel dressed in a fierce design by acclaimedfashion illustrator Ruben Toledo Ruben Toledo's breathtakingdrawings have appeared in such high-fashion magazines as "Vogue,Harper's Bazaar," and "Visionaire." Now he's turning his talentedhand to illustrating the gorgeous deluxe editions of three of themost beloved novels in literature. Here Elizabeth Bennet'srejection of Mr. Darcy, Hester Prynne's fateful letter "A," andCatherine Earnshaw's wanderings on the Yorkshire moors aretransformed into witty and surreal landscapes to appeal to thenovels' aficionados and the most discerning designer's eyes.

Portnoy's Complaint "n." after Alexander Portnoy (1933- )] Adisorder in which strongly-felt ethical and altruistic impulses areperpetually warring with extreme sexual longings, often of aperverse nature. Spielvogel says: 'Acts of exhibitionism,voyeurism, fetishism, auto-eroticism and oral coitus are plentiful;as a consequence of the patient's "morality," however, neitherfantasy nor act issues in genuine sexual gratification, but ratherin overriding feelings of shame and the dread of retribution,particularly in the form of castration.' (Spielvogel, O. "ThePuzzled Penis," "Internationale Zeitschrift fur Psychoanalyse,"Vol. XXIV, p. 909.) It is believed by Spielvogel that many of thesymptoms can be traced to the bonds obtaining in the mother-childrelationship. With a new Afterword by the author for the 25thAnniversary edition.

(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed) The most famous day inliterature is June 16, 1904, when a certain Mr. Leopold Bloom ofDublin eats a kidney for breakfast, attends a funeral, admires agirl on the beach, contemplates his wife's imminent adultery, and,late at night, befriends a drunken young poet in the city'sred-light district. An earthy story, a virtuoso technical display,and a literary revolution all rolled into one, James Joyce's"Ulysses" is a touchstone of our modernity and one of the toweringachievements of the human mind.

Among the few indispensable, common-property books upon whichWestern culture can be founded ... it is hardly too much to saythat these tales rank next to the Bible in importance. - W.H.Auden A wonderful collection of all 210 tales and popular legendscollected by the Grimm brothers over a century ago.

The Winter's Tale was one of the very last plays Shakespeare wrote, a moving romance whose themes are sin, forgiveness, death, rebirth, and the power of Time and Nature to heal all wounds. Based on a novella by Shakespeare's enemy and arch rival Robert Greene, The Winter's Tale introduces Perdita, perhaps the Bard's most richly symbolic character. At times tragic, at times humorous, but always entertaining and instructive, The Winters Tale is a complex and rewarding work by the greatest dramatist of all time.

Based on the true story of Alexander Selkirk, who survivedalone for almost five years on an uninhabited island off the coastof Chile, "The Mysterious Island" is considered by many to be JulesVerne's masterpiece. "Wide-eyed mid-nineteenth-century humanisticoptimism in a breezy, blissfully readable translation by Stump"("Kirkus Reviews"), here is the enthralling tale of five men and adog who land in a balloon on a faraway, fantastic island ofbewildering goings-on and their struggle to survive as they uncoverthe island's secret.