Businessman George F. Babbitt loves the latest appliances, brand names, and the Republican Party. In fact, he loves being a solid citizen even more than he loves his wife. But Babbitt comes to resent the middle-class trappings he has worked so hard to acquire. Realizing that his life is devoid of meaning, he grows determined to transcend his trivial existence and search for greater purpose. Babbitt's quest for meaning forces him to ponder what it...

The diary of an Englishman shipwrecked for almost thirty years on a small isolated island where, using wit and industry, he manages to build life anew.

This early work by Henry James was originally published in 1877 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. Henry James was born in New York City in 1843. One of thirteen children, James had an unorthodox early education, switching between schools, private tutors and private reading.. James published his first story, 'A Tragedy of Error', in the Continental Monthly in 1864, when he was twenty years old. In 1876, he emigrated...

"Many of these fables are so well known they have given us everyday phrases such as "sour grapes" and "dog in the manger." but even the rarer ones seem familiar, because their simple morals reflect all aspects of human nature. From the tortoise and the hare to the mouse and the lion, the timeless wisdom and wit of Aesop's fables are as entertaining as ever"--Page 2 of cover.

After a cyclone transports her to the land of Oz, Dorothy must seek out the great wizard in order to return home to Kansas. Illustrated with stills from the motion picture.

Jack Worthington is an upstanding gentleman in Victorian society. He just has one secret-he tells everyone that he has a brother named Earnest, when, in reality, Earnest is his alter ego. This allows him a certain duality; he can go out and party as Earnest, but have a sterling reputation as Jack. However, he must merge the two when Jack discovers that his lover, Gwendolyn, will only marry a man named Earnest. Meanwhile, Algernon, a family friend,...

A boy who turns into a TV set and a girl who eats a whale are only two of the characters in a collection of humorous poetry illustrated with the author's own drawings.

"On the windy Nebraska prairie, Alexandra Bergson tends to the failing farm that she inherited from her father. She struggles to raise her brothers on her own. And hse is torn by the emergence of an unexpected passion...This magnificent story, Willa Cather's second novel, has become one of the geat classics of American literature--telling a timeless tale of a strong pioneer woman facing extraordinary challenges and conflicts, shining a light on the...

Considered to be French novelist Victor Hugo's masterpiece, Les Misérables is a sprawling historical and philosophical epic first published in 1862. Covering the years from 1815 through the Paris uprising in 1832, it is notable for its many subplots and digressions from the main storyline. The novel's stated aim is "a progress from evil to good, from injustice to justice, from falsehood to truth," which can be seen most clearly in the story of the...

This classic novel takes place in Lantern Yard, a slum street in an unnamed city in Northern England, during the early 19th century. There, Silas Marner, a weaver and a member of a small Calvinist congregation, is falsely accused of stealing the congregation's funds while watching over their very ill deacon. Two pieces of evidence are against Silas: his possession of a pocket knife and the bag that formerly contained the money. Although there is also...