Showing results by publisher "Spoken Realms" in Literature & Fiction

The collected fables, short stories, and essays of writer, newspaper columnist, and playwright George Ade, who has been called the creator of modern American humor in the early 20th century. Introduced, edited, and revised by storyteller and radio personality Jean Shepherd. Originally published by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1961.

Throughout history generations of young men have fought in wars started by old men. There is no experience other than combat that makes a more lasting or life changing impression on a man or woman. The majority who have seen the battlefield saw combat before their 25th birthday, and many who did never got to celebrate that anniversary. Those who do come back are forever changed. Krebs in Hemmingway's "Soldier's Home" for instance.

Zane Grey's first western story, written in 1909, is based on a real character, Buffalo Jones. Grey's descriptive art was just beginning in this story. But he brings color and life to the area between the Grand Canyon and Utah. The story follows Grey, Jones, and a company of colorful characters on a "hunt" bent on capture rather than shooting.

John Pollen (1855-1923) was an official in the Indian Civil Service. A keen linguist, he learned Russian, Esperanto, and Persian and in 1915 published an English translation of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. His collection contains 158 quatrains and includes a set of seven prefatory quatrains by Andrew Lang and a foreword by the Aga Khan.

A Woman of No Importance takes place in a 24-hour period during a house party hosted by Lady Hunstanton at her country estate. The upper echelons of English society mix, mingle and flirt, including Lady Caroline Pontefract (who is on her fourth husband), the witty and ironic Mrs. Allonby and the dandyish Lord Illingworth. Wilde balances these worldly characters with a visiting young American woman, Hester Worsley.

The narrator pledges to donate 50% of his proceeds to The Royal British Legion Poppy Day Appeal - please support. "In Flanders Fields" is one of the most famous poems of The Great War, written by Lieutenant-Colonel John Alexander McCrae, MD, 1872-1918. It is believed that McCrae wrote the poem after presiding at the funeral of a friend killed during the second Battle of Ypres, in 1915. The poppy grew in abundance in the spoiled earth of the cemeteries and battlefields of Flanders, France.

Wilfred Owen’s famous poem was written in 1917 during World War I. Dulce et Decorum Est describes the horrors of the front lines and the gruesome effect of a gas attack. It is a rebuke to those that would glorify war. The title, taken from Horace, can be translated as “It is sweet and glorious to die for one’s country”.

Wuthering Heights is Emily Brontë's only novel, first published in 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell. A work of considerable power and intensity set in the Yorkshire moors in the late 18th century - the bleak and wild moorland often reflected in the natures of the characters. Unsettling at times, the novel is a heady mix of gritty realism, romance, Gothic horror, and tragedy.

In Jane Austen's unfinished novel, young Emma Watson returns to her father's house after being raised by her wealthy and refined uncle. As she gets to know her family, she finds that her father is reclusive and sickly, her sisters are crude and shallow, and her eldest brother has a petulance that is matched only by his wife's.

After a lifetime of political disillusionment, Mia Rhodes created an alternative to the two-party system: Ameritocracy. Part American Idol, part Iowa Caucus, her online political competition will find the most popular independent candidate in America and give them a genuine shot to win the presidency. Anyone can run...The American people vote online...The winner receives instant fame and a campaign war chest to battle the Democrats and Republicans in 2020.

When Connecticut mechanic and foreman Hank Morgan is knocked unconscious, he wakes not to the familiar scenes of 19th century America, but to the bewildering sights and sounds of 6th century Camelot. Although confused at first and quickly imprisoned, he soon realizes that his knowledge of the future can transform his fate. Correctly predicting a solar eclipse from inside his prison cell, Morgan terrifies the people of England into releasing him and swiftly establishes himself as the most powerful magician in the land, stronger than Merlin and greatly admired by Arthur himself.

American expatriate Frederick Winterbourne has long resided in Switzerland, where society follows strict rules for proper behavior. When Daisy Miller of Schenectady, New York arrives in Vevey, however, Winterbourne soon finds that he must reckon with his own assumptions about what makes someone "proper" and "good."

Ojo and Unc Nunkie live in the land of Oz in Munchkin Country. Their neighbor, Dr. Pipt, has been devotedly working on the Powder of Life for many years. This magical powder will turn inanimate objects into living things. While demonstrating its power on a stuffed doll made of patchwork, Dr. Pipt accidentally turns his wife and Unc Nunkie to stone. It is up to Ojo to collect the necessary ingredients to destroy the spell and turn them back.

In preparation for a move from his former family home into a retirement village, widower Mitch is clearing out the attic. He comes across a woolen hat knitted for him by his late wife, Linda, when she was pregnant with their son, Alan. He tries it on and finds that the hat has properties other than just keeping head warm.

North and South follows the young Margaret Hale as she is caught in the middle of the brutal world between employers and local workers following the Industrial Revolution. She finds herself at odds from the very start with John Thornton, a local factory owner and self-made man, as she believes him to be unfeeling and callous about the poverty and suffering of the workers while John sees Margaret as haughty and entitled. Further conflicts arise when the workers strike and Margaret feels compelled to intervene with no regard for her own safety.

Lamia is a narrative poem that reflects Keat's intensive exploration of Greek mythology. It first appeared in 1820 in a collection entitled Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St Agnes and Other Poems. The poem describes the search of the god Hermes for a beautiful nymph, during which he encounters Lamia, who is trapped in the form of a serpent. At her fervent request, Hermes transforms Lamia into a human form and she departs to pursue a liaison with her lover, the glamorous Corinthian youth, Lycias.

Two junior naval officers, Cosway and Stone, have led too indulgent a lifestyle while awaiting the recall to their ship, whose sailing has been delayed by the severe illness of the captain. When the orders to board finally come, the two friends find they have insufficient money to pay their bills. Their landlady, Mrs Pounce, suggests a surprising way to settle their debt: one of them must marry her.

Although well-known for her novels of manners and social critique, such as The House of Mirth and the Pulitzer Prize–winning The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton was also a master of the ghost story. Her ghostly characters appear in many different forms, haunting such places as a splendid English country estate, a lonely house on the coast of storm-tossed Brittany, and an isolated New England village.

Though written in the 1930s, Anthem addresses controversial subjects in society that are still relevant today: equality, environment, sexism, mental health, the role of government. In revisiting this book and its many subjects, one keeps catching glimpses of understandings, and connections with our society today.

Experience the classic tale of a young mermaid's quest for love and humanity. Rebecca H. Lee narrates this traditional Hans Christian Andersen story of magical creatures and merfolk. The story has been translated into English, but not modified from its original version, which may contain darker themes than its modern retellings.