This volume brings together for the first time the known writings of the pioneering Native American religious and political leader, intellectual, and author, Samson Occom (Mohegan; 1723-1792). The largest surviving archive of American Indian writing before Charles Eastman (Santee Sioux; 1858-1939), Occom's writings offer unparalleled views into a Native American intellectual and cultural universe in the era of colonialization and the early United States. His letters, sermons, journals, pro...

The Beautiful and Damned, first published by Scribner's in 1922, is F. Scott Fitzgerald's second novel. It portrays the Eastern elite during the Jazz Age, exploring New York Café Society. As in Fitzgerald's other novels, the characters are complex, especially with respect to marriage and intimacy. The book is believed to be largely based on Fitzgerald's relationship with Zelda Fitzgerald. The Beautiful and Damned tells the story of Anthony Patch, a 1910s socialite and presumptive heir to a...

In the heart of the wilderness, loyalty and courage are tested in the shadow of war. The Last of the Mohicans (1826), by James Fenimore Cooper, is the most celebrated volume of his Leatherstocking Tales and one of the greatest adventure novels in American literature. Set during the French and Indian War, the novel follows the scout Hawkeye (Natty Bumppo) and his Mohican companions, Chingachgook and his son Uncas, as they guide two British sisters, Cora and Alice Munro, through a perilous l...

Step into the captivating world of high society with "The Custom of the Country" by Edith Wharton. This enthralling novel follows the ambitious Undine Spragg as she navigates the complexities of wealth, power, and social status in early 20th-century America.As Undine strives to climb the social ladder, consider this: What lengths would you go to for acceptance in a world obsessed with status?But here’s a thought that might make you pause: I...

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players." Step into the timeless world of William Shakespeare, the greatest playwright and poet in the English language. The Complete Works of Shakespeare gathers all of his plays and poems—comedies filled with wit, tragedies rich in passion and betrayal, histories of kings and battles, and poetry that continues to inspire centuries later. From unforgettable characters like Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, Romeo & Juliet, and King L...

Michel de Montaigne was one of the most influential figures of the Renaissance, singlehandedly responsible for popularising the essay as a literary form. This Penguin Classics edition of The Complete Essays is translated from the French and edited with an introduction and notes by M.A. Screech.In 1572 Montaigne retired to his estates in order to devote himself to leisure, reading and reflection. There he wrote his constantly expanding 'assays', inspired by the ideas he fou...

Twenty-six wickedly funny, thought-provoking essays by the celebrated American author—"Twain's wit and lethally precise powers of description are on full display" (NPR)."More than 100 years after [Twain] wrote these stories, they remain not only remarkably funny but remarkably modern. . . . Ninety-nine years after his death, Twain still manages to get the last laugh." — Vanity Fair"You had better shove this in the stove," Mark Twain ...

'Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man: we shall this day light such a candle by God's grace in England, as, I trust, shall never be put out.' Hugh Latimer's famous words of consolation to Nicholas Ridley as they are both about to be burnt alive for heresy come from John Foxe's magisterial Acts and Monuments, popularly known as the Book of Martyrs. This vast collection of unforgettable accounts of religious persecution exerted as great an in...

These short stories are about what we may think we see and feel as much as they are about any reality we are living in. From the well known Professor Kurtz and his groundbreaking paper on "human de-evolvement," to giant sea turtles suddenly appearing in neighborhood swimming pools, to state governments desperately searching for novel ways to raise money in dire economic times, and to hope in unusual places. We all continue to look for resolution of some kind. Do we not?

One of the most respected poets of the Beat and San Francisco Renaissance periods, David Meltzer has kept alive interest in the interface between jazz and poetry that exploded in the 1950s. This new edition of selected poems includes previously unpublished material and serves as a map to this very prolific and interesting poet.

The fifteen Native women writers in Reckonings document transgenerational trauma, yet they also celebrate survival. Their stories are vital testaments of our times. Unlike most anthologies that present a single story from many writers, this volume offers a sampling of two to three stories by a select number of both famous and lesser known Native women writers in what is now the United States. Here you will find much-loved stories, many made easily accessible for the first time, an...

The 1780s and 1790s were a critical era for communities of color in the new United States of America. Even Thomas Jefferson observed that in the aftermath of the American Revolution, "the spirit of the master is abating, that of the slave rising from the dust." This book explores the means by which the very first Black and Indian authors rose up to transform their communities and the course of American literary history. It argues that the origins of modern African-American and American Ind...