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Cousin Pons
by Honoré De BalzacMild, harmless and ugly to behold, the impoverished Pons is an ageing musician whose brief fame has fallen to nothing. Living a placid Parisian life as a bachelor in a shared apartment with his friend Schmucke, he maintains only two passions: a devotion to fine dining in the company of wealthy but disdainful relatives, and a dedication to the collection of antiques. When these relatives become aware of the true value of his art collection, however, their sneering contempt for the parasitic Pons rapidly falls away as they struggle to obtain a piece of the weakening man's inheritance. Taking its place in the Human Comedy as a companion to Cousin Bette, the darkly humorous Cousin Pons is among of the last and greatest of Balzac's novels concerning French urban society: a cynical, pessimistic but never despairing consideration of human nature.
Creatures That Once Were Men
by Maksim GorkyA collection of short stories by the popular and influential Russian author, a founder of the socialist realism literary method and arguably the greatest Russian literary figure of the 20th century. He wrote stories, plays, memoirs and novels which touched the imagination of the Russian people, and was the first Russian author to write sympathetically of such characters as tramps and thieves, emphasizing their daily struggles against overwhelming odds.
Crome Yellow
by Aldous HuxleyCrome Yellow is in the tradition of the English country house novel, as practised by Thomas Love Peacock, in which a diverse group of characters descend upon an estate to leech off the host. They spend most of their time eating, drinking, and holding forth on their personal intellectual conceits.
Crotchet Castle
by Thomas Love PeacockCrotchet Castle (1831), his sixth novel, contains all the humour and social satire for which Peacock is famous. Its lively farce is more ambitious than that of the earlier works in its range of cultural and intellectual targets, including progressivism, dogmatism, liberalism, sexism, mass education and the idiocies of the learned. The book constitutes an artistic, political and philosophical miscellany of sorts, thematically unified in its satirical emphasis on folly and dispute – and on the folly of dispute itself.
Cynthia's Revels; Or, The Fountain of Self-Love
by Ben JonsonThe play begins with three pages disputing over the black cloak usually worn by the actor who delivers the prologue. They draw lots for the cloak, and one of the losers, Anaides, starts telling the audience what happens in the play to come; the others try to suppress him, interrupting him and putting their hands over his mouth. Soon they are fighting over the cloak and criticizing the author and the spectators as well. In the play proper, the goddess Diana, also called Cynthia, has ordained a "solemn revels" in the valley of Gargaphie in Greece. The gods Cupid and Mercury appear, and they too start to argue. Mercury has awakened Echo, who weeps for Narcissus, and states that a drink from Narcissus's spring causes the drinkers to "Grow dotingly enamored of themselves." The courtiers and ladies assembled for the Cynthia's revels all drink from the spring.
Cyrano de Bergerac: An Heroic Comedy in Five Acts
by Edmond RostandIn Paris, in the year 1640, a brilliant poet and swordsman named Cyrano de Bergerac finds himself deeply in love with his beautiful, intellectual cousin Roxane.
Daddy Long-Legs: A Comedy in Four Acts
by Jean WebsterA trustee of the John Grier orphanage has offered to send Judy Abbott to college. The only requirements are that she must write to him every month and that she can never know who he is. Judy's life at college is a whirlwind of friends, classes, parties and a growing friendship with the handsome Jervis Pendleton. With so much happening in her life, Judy can scarcely stop writing to 'Daddy-Long-Legs', or wondering who her mysterious benefactor is...
Danny's Own Story
by Don MarquisThe 1912 publication of Don Marquis’ first book, the novel “Danny’s Own Story,” created a stir in literary circles. Doubleday, Page & Co., Don’s publisher, heralded the young writer as a rising star, and reviewers favorably compared him with Mark Twain, who had died less than two year earlier. (It didn’t hurt that “Danny’s Own Story” bore a passing resemblance to “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Both were written in a backwoods vernacular and both used wry humor to tell the adventures of young boys, one an orphan and the other nearly so, who ran away from home and lived by their wits.)
Dawn O'Hara: The Girl Who Laughed
by Edna FerberThis is the story of Dawn O'Hara, who finds the humor in things. She's charming and witty and stubborn and likable. It's her tale of struggle with romance, growing friendships and relationships, sacrifices and overcoming her past and embracing the future.
Days with Sir Roger De Coverley
by Joseph Addison Sir Richard SteeleAn English squire of Queen Anne's reign, Sir Roger exemplified the values of an old country gentleman, and was portrayed as lovable but somewhat ridiculous ('rather beloved than esteemed'), making his Tory politics seem harmless but silly. He was said to be the grandson of the man who invented the dance.
The Devil's Dictionary
by Ambrose BierceThe Devil's Dictionary is a satirical dictionary written by American journalist and author Ambrose Bierce. Originally published in 1906 as The Cynic's Word Book, it features Bierce's witty and often ironic spin on many common English words. Retitled in 1911, it has been followed by numerous "unabridged" versions compiled after Bierce's death, which include definitions absent from earlier editions.
Diary of a Pilgrimage
by Jerome K. JeromeThis is a sensible book. I want you to understand that. This is a book to improve your mind. In this book I tell you all about Germany--at all events, all I know about Germany--and the Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. I also tell you about other things. I do not tell you all I know about all these other things, because I do not want to swamp you with knowledge. I wish to lead you gradually. When you have learnt this book, you can come again, and I will tell you some more.
Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic
by Henri BergsonIn this great philosophical essay, Henri Bergson explores why people laugh and what laughter means. Written at the turn of the twentieth century, Laughter explores what it is in language that makes a joke funny and what it is in us that makes us laugh. One of the functions of humor, according to Bergson, is to help us retain our humanity during an age of mechanization. Like other philosophers, novelists, poets, and humorists of his era, Bergson was concerned with the duality of man and machine. His belief in life as a vital impulse, indefinable by reason alone, informs his perception of comedy as the relief we experience upon distancing ourselves from the mechanistic and materialistic. "A situation is always comic," Bergson notes, "if it participates simultaneously in two series of events which are absolutely independent of each other, and if it can be interpreted in two quite different meanings. " The philosopher's thought-provoking insights (e. g. , "It seems that laughter needs an echo. Our laughter is always the laughter of a group. ") keep this work ever-relevant as a thesis on the principles of humor.
Love Among the Chickens
by P. G. WodehouseAfter seeing his friend Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge for the first time in years, Jeremy Garnet is dragged along on holiday to Ukridge's new chicken farm in Dorset. Hilarious situations abound with Garnet's troublesome courting of a girl living nearby and the struggles on the farm, which are worsened by Ukridge's bizarre business ideas and methods. This was Wodehouse's first novel published in the United States, and the only one to feature the recurring character Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge.
Love for Love: A Comedy
by William CongreveValentine has fallen under the displeasure of his father by his extravagance, and is besieged by creditors. His father, Sir Sampson Legend, offers him enough to pay his debts if he will sign a bond engaging to make over his right to his inheritance to his younger brother Ben. Valentine, to escape from his embarrassment, signs the bond. He is in love with Angelica, who possesses a fortune of her own, but so far she has not yielded to his suit. Sir Sampson has arranged a match between Ben, who is at sea, and Miss Prue, an awkward country girl, the daughter of Foresight, a superstitious old fool who claims to be an astrologer.
Five Children and It
by E. NesbitIn this classic tale of adventure and wish fulfillment, five city kids find the countryside to be filled with magic and wonder Be careful what you wish for. After two years cooped up in London, Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane, and their baby brother, “the Lamb,” are thrilled to be living in the country. The best thing about their new home is that there are no rules, no places that are off limits. One day while playing in a gravel pit, they uncover a fat, furry creature that has been asleep for thousands of years. The Sand-fairy, also known as It, grants them one wish a day, to be shared among them. At sunset, the wish will turn to stone. But every wish brings a disastrous result. When the children wish to be beautiful, no one recognizes them. When they wish to be rich, their gold doesn’t buy them anything. When they wish to be able to fly, they end up stuck on top of a church tower with no way to get down. Other wishes lead to a confrontation with Indians, a scuffle with kidnappers, and accusations of thievery. When the children beg the Sand-fairy for more wishes to set things right, It agrees—on the condition that they never ask for another wish again. E. Nesbit’s pioneering fantasy novel continues to delight new generations of young readers. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.
Gulliver's Travels
by Jonathan SwiftFrom the world’s greatest satirist, the classic adventures of the intrepid Gulliver Broken into four parts, Gulliver’s Travels marks the progress of a gallant explorer as he sails into the unknown, visiting surreal worlds like Brobdingnag, a realm filled with gigantic men; Lilliput, a diminutive land filled with pint-size people; Laputa, a floating island in the sky; and even the fabled land known as Japan. Along the way, Gulliver solves problems, starts and ends wars, and gets into—and back out of—one hot pot after another. Just beneath the surface of Jonathan Swift’s dashing novel is a devastating satire of the world in the early eighteenth century, and few institutions escape critique. Swift calls into question the worthiness of human society, where the greedy and the wicked thrive. In the end, however, Gulliver’s Travels remains, at its heart, a dramatic adventure filled with the curiosities and feats of daring that have thrilled readers for centuries. Seldom have audiences enjoyed such a balanced mixture of humor, satire, thrills, and philosophy. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.
Sanders of the River
by Edgar Wallace Otto PenzlerThrilling adventures of colonial Africa from the creator of King KongIn the jungles of West Africa, Commissioner Sanders is the highest representative of the British crown. The health and safety of a quarter-million natives—who speak countless languages and worship untold gods—are his responsibility. Whether disciplining a boy king, expelling troublesome missionaries, or fighting to contain outbreaks of sleeping sickness and beri-beri, Sanders and his lieutenants must be quick, decisive, and fair. The fate of the empire—not to mention their lives—depends on it. These rollicking escapades, based on Edgar Wallace’s travels in Africa, offer an entertaining glimpse into a world—and a mindset—long lost but endlessly intriguing. This ebook features a new introduction by Otto Penzler and has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.
The Semi-Attached Couple
by Emily EdenThe worst thing to happen to the season’s perfect couple: marriage When the young and gorgeous Helen Eskdale met the wealthy aristocrat Lord Teviot, everything clicked. This was a couple that was meant to be—the match of the year, if not the ages. But in the rush to the altar, there was no time for bride and groom to actually get to know each other. Now the question is: Can they keep their marriage from falling apart?The Semi-Attached Couple explores the upstairs-downstairs intrigues and comic misunderstandings central to the classic English romance with all the wit, style, and charm of a Jane Austen novel. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.
The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen
by Rudolph Erich RaspeThe fantastic story of the semimythical folk hero who has delighted generations of readers all over the world Published anonymously in 1785, The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen defies logic, the laws of physics, and even rational thought. Karl Friedrich von Munchausen, also known as the Baron of Lies, was a retired army captain famed for his outlandish accounts of his war and hunting exploits. In this “memoir,” Munchausen regales readers with stories of dancing in the belly of a whale and riding on a horse cut in two. Other escapades include a balloon expedition to the moon, an encounter with the goddess Venus, a fiery battle with the Turkish army, and the experience of being swallowed up by a monstrous creature in the South Seas. It was not until 1824 that Rudolf Erich Raspe was revealed as the book’s author. Although most of Munchausen’s tales sprang from Raspe’s imagination, the author is reputed to have known the notorious baron personally. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.
Three Men in a Boat
by Jerome K. JeromeThe classic comic travelogue about an ill-fated boating holiday on the River ThamesThree Men in a Boat is the irreverent tale of a group of friends who, along with a fox terrier named Montmorency, embark on a two-week boating journey up the Thames. Passing by famous landmarks on their way from Kingston to Oxford, the three gloriously underprepared travelers—George, William, and J.—confront the humor in everything from assembling a tent to fending off hostile swans. Originally conceived as a travel guide, the narrative instead evolved into a sharply witty tale replete with historical anecdotes, raucous digressions, and unforgettable misadventures. As funny and relatable today as it was more than a century ago, Three Men in a Boat was recently ranked by the Guardian as one of the twenty-five best novels of all time and by Esquire UK as one of the top twenty funniest books ever written. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.
Vanity Fair
by William Makepeace ThackerayThis classic story of two nineteenth-century social climbers is the basis for countless films and TV series, and one of the UK’s “Best-Loved Novels.” Before the Real Housewives, there were Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley. Ruthless and cunning, Becky may have been born in a lower class, but now that she’s graduated from school, she’s ready to climb up to a better life—and do whatever it takes to get there. Her friend Emmy, however, is the opposite. She may have mastered music, dancing, and embroidery like any young woman of her class, but she utterly lacks a backbone. Together these friends navigate the perils of Regency society as they search for love and happiness. Social battles are waged against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, and when the smoke finally clears, there’s no telling who will come out victorious. A satirical masterpiece, Vanity Fair was #14 on The Guardian’s list of the 100 Best Novels and #122 in the BBC’s “Big Read” poll for the UK’s best-loved novel. It has inspired numerous adaptations, from early silent films to a 2004 movie by Mira Nair starring Reese Witherspoon as Becky.
Coinman: An Untold Conspiracy
by Pawan MishraPrejudice takes place in a plethora of forms. It sprouts a rare growth when a clerk called Coinman can't stop jingling the coins in his pocket. It's a seemingly harmless addiction, but it's one that comes to rule his life and begins to invite the wrath of virtually everyone around him. His work environment becomes increasingly hostile while his life at home begins to suffer as a result of his wife's obsession with acting. When an attempt to remedy the situation goes horribly wrong, it spurs those involved onto unexpected paths. In this eccentric tale set in a small town in northern India, Pawan Mishra masterfully weaves ingenuity and sarcasm in a manner that's simultaneously hilarious and tragic. Coinman is a modern-day parable laced with pithy wisdom and psychological insight into human nature - a clever parody of the dynamics of office politics and groupthink. At times, surreal, Mishra's distinctive novel is an overflowing basin of linguistic humor. Eloquently written, this satirical story beautifully depicts how even mature, sensible adults can callously inflict emotional damage upon the most vulnerable. Winner: 2016 eLit Book Awards for Literary Fiction (Bronze) Finalist: 2016 National Indie Excellence Award for Humor Finalist: 2016 IAN Book of the Year (General/ Literary Fiction)