Showing results by publisher "Phoenix Books" in Literature & Fiction

Pip—the orphaned hero of Great Expectations—is one of Charles Dickens's best-loved characters. Young Philip Pirrip—nicknamed Pip—is apprenticed to his blacksmith brother-in-law, but an anonymous benefactor changes the boy's future. After he is lifted to what seems a higher station in life, Pip shuns his kind friends and slips into debt. But as he matures, he progresses from thoughtless selfishness to humble industry.

In London, Little Nell lives in The Old Curiosity Shop with her grandfather, who has a weakness for gambling. Hoping to mend his finances, the old man borrows money from Quilp, a moneylender and swindler. After losing that money as well, the grandfather flees to the country with Nell in a desperate attempt to escape the clutches of Quilp, who has designs on Nell and believes that the grandfather is secretly a rich miser. Out of devotion to Nell, Kit Nubbles, the shop's errand boy, pursues the pair and in the process earning the wrath of Quilp.

In the squalor of a textile town, successful businessman and arch-pragmatist Thomas Gradgrind, proclaiming that he is a self-made man, teaches his children to suppress their imaginations and embrace hard facts. He arranges the marriage of his daughter Louisa to Josiah Bounderby, an unattractive, boastful manufacturer who is thirty years older her senior, and Gradgrind's son Tom goes to work in Bounderby's bank. But after Tom steals from his employer and Louisa flees the horrors of her marriage, Gradgrind must reconsider his lifelong devotion to facts and utility.

Jim Hawkins, the son of an innkeeper, longs for adventure. One of the inn's guests, a coarse old bully named Billy Bones, reveals a map showing the whereabouts of buried treasure. After Bones dies, Jim and his mother flee with the map to Squire John Trelawney, outwitting other pirates who were chasing Bones. With Trelawney's friend Dr. Livesey, the squire charters a schooner carrying a band of pirates led by Long John Silver. Excitement and heroic action await Jim Hawkins as he seeks to foil the pirates, find the buried gold, and bring Long John Silver to justice.

Murder for Love: Murder for Women is a collection of wickedly witty crime-of-passion short stories by some of the best women writers inside and out of the mystery field.

The stories for this annual collection of the Mystery Writers of America were selected for their strange and exotic locales. Breathtaking suspense, cold-blooded crime, and challenging twists of plot—set in the four corners of the world—make this recording a chilling audio experience.

Mick Winger is only 17, and he's already killed over a dozen people—not on purpose, though. He never means to hurt anyone. But when Mick gets angry, people die—even the people he loves the most. Now he's on the run from his own terrible talent and from those who would use his power for their own purposes. But Mick is not alone. There are others like him. And if he will not join them, they will make him pay.

Ernie and Wilma Bean have finally made it! Their lucky number has won the special Christmas lottery. Wilma is out of town, though, and it's tough to keep news like that a secret for too long. It couldn't hurt to celebrate a little with Loretta Thistlebottom, could it? In another story, the country cabin where Mike spent so many idyllic summers with his grandmother ought to be the perfect place for his wife, Laurie, to recover from the nightmares of her childhood. But now that Mike and Laurie have arrived, what could be causing such an ominous feeling to come over both of them?

Hamlet and Macbeth are two dramas by William Shakespeare that have been thrilling audiences for centuries. Both have been adapted to radio and film and continue to be taught in high schools and universities. But as with most of Shakespeare's works, modern audiences sometimes need some help absorbing elements of both plays. In a series of lectures, literary scholar Elizabeth McNamer provides engaging insights into these two Shakespeare classics. While these lectures are grounded in scholarly research, they are also accessible for contemporary audiences.

As You Like It and A Midsummer Night's Dream are two comedies by William Shakespeare that have been entertaining audiences for centuries. Both have been adapted to radio and film and continue to be taught in high schools and universities. But as with most of Shakespeare's works, modern audiences sometimes need some help absorbing elements of both plays. While these lectures are grounded in scholarly research, they are also accessible for contemporary audiences, helping them appreciate more fully these two great theatrical works.

This classic adventure story chronicles a fantastic voyage from the lost continent of Atlantis to the South Pole. Professor Aronnax begins his incredible underwater journey with his faithful servant Conseil and a Canadian harpooner, Ned Land. They set out on a hazardous voyage to rid the seas of a little-known and terrifying sea monster. After discovering that the “monster” is actually a giant submarine, they are captured by the vessel's mysterious commander, Captain Nemo.

The charm of the crazy Clampett clan lives on! After striking oil on his land in the Ozarks, Jed Clampett decides the sophisticated life in Beverly Hills is just what he and his kin—Jethro Bodine, Elly May, and Granny—deserve. Humorous antics ensue when they proceed to shake up privileged society with their hayseed ways. This novelization of the film features all of the favorite characters from the original series—including uptight banker Mr. Drysdale and his prim assistant Miss Jane Hathaway.

In this brilliant retelling of the classic tale about the transcendent power of love, author Stephen Mitchell writes, "There are two kinds of women: those who marry princes and those who marry frogs.” While the frogs never become princes, over the course of an ordinary marriage, a prince may turn into a frog. However, Mitchell tells of a different kind of love story. This adult fairytale is the story of a meditative frog's love for a rebellious princess, how she came to love him in spite of herself, and how her refusal to compromise helped him become what he was truly meant to be.

Sebastian Zollner's failure as a journalist is matched only by his personal failures. Searching for redemption in the eyes of his peers, he heads off into the mountains to interview the eccentric, legendary painter Manuel Kaminski with the hope of writing his biography. Going blind and living in seclusion with his daughter, Kaminski could be working on his next masterpiece or easing into his final days. His artistic reputation hinges on any number of factors, but most prominently on a definitive biography.

Falsely accused of a crime and betrayed by his closest friend, the weaver Silas Marner has been hoarding his earnings for 15 years. Distanced from his religious community, he has devoted himself to his work and taken pleasure only in counting his coins. Then in a single day, his gold is stolen and a lovely child appears on his doorstep. As he changes his life to meet the irresistible needs of the child, Marner accepts that the loss of the gold was a necessary exchange for the child.

William Butler Yeats's early poetry is suffused with the radiant lyricism of Irish folklore and myth; the yearning romance and distinctly Irish voice of these first works of the Nobel laureate have inspired scores of poets. This splendid selection offers a distinctive sampling of the Yeatsian voice.

From Edgar Allan Poe—the master of the short story and lyric poem—comes this rare treasury of classics. The outstanding works "A Descent into the Maelstrom," "Annabelle Lee," "Eldorado," "The Bells," and "The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall," illustrate Poe's meticulous sense of construction, with signature themes of romance and melancholy that characterized his short and troubled life.

In this masterwork, Phil Cousineau examines the connection of mythology to contemporary life and what that means for self-improvement. Drawing on his extensive work with Joseph Campbell (The Power of Myth), this is Cousineau's grand opus—revealing mythic insights for everyday life.

Life has always been a banquet for Sappho, one to be savored to the fullest. Following a magnificent destiny, her strange and sensual odyssey has carried her to the far corners of the ancient world, from Delphi to Egypt, to the Land of the Amazons, and the realm of Hades. For Sappho, it was always about love—love that seduced her into a plot to depose a dictator, and love that made her trade an unwanted marriage bed of a despised and drunken husband for a seemingly endless series of lovers, both male and female.

This is a compilation of presidential speeches that spans 75 years, from Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first inaugural speech in 1933 to Barack Obama's victory speech in 2008.