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Tremendous Trifles is comprised of 39 chapters, each functioning as their own essay or story. With whimsical, light-hearted prose, vivid figurative language, and unparalleled insight, Chesterton covers a variety of philosophical principles of everyday life. Chesterton often used ordinary events and objects to explain deeper matters. Using relatable and accessible examples, Tremendous Trifles also test biases and preconceived ideas, specifically in...
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The Devil's Dictionary (1906) is a work of satire by Ambrose Bierce. Although he is commonly remembered for his chilling short stories on the experiences of Civil War soldiers, Bierce was recognized in his day as a leading journalist and humorist who spent decades ruffling feathers and drawing laughter with his witty opinion columns, poems, and definitions. Toward the end of his career, he decided to compile these satirical definitions into a book,...
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With authors such as Voltaire, Honore De Balzac, Victor Hugo, and so many more, French literature can be as intimidating as it is spectacular. Hoping to spread admiration and knowledge about the French literary canon, H.A.L Fisher, a former president of the board of education and prominent historian, sought out Lytton Strachey to write a survey of French literature. After accepting the commission, Strachey exceeded the original expectations, crafting...
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The Spirit of Japanese Poetry (1914) is a collection of essays by Yone Noguchi. Although he is widely recognized as a leading poet in English and Japanese of the modernist period, Noguchi was also a dedicated literary critic who advocated for the cross-pollination of national poetries. His essays on the Noh drama and Hokku poems influenced Ezra Pound, William Butler Yeats, and countless other artists from the West.
"Not only the English poetry, but...
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The People of the Abyss (1903) is a work of nonfiction by American writer Jack London. Written after the author spent three months living in London's poverty-stricken East End, The People of the Abyss bears witness to the difficulties faced by hundreds and thousands of people every day in one of the wealthiest nations on earth. Inspired by Friedrich Engels's The Condition of the Working Class in England (1845) and Jacob Riis's How the Other Half Lives,...
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Disability Pride Month 2023 (WPL-ADULT)
Women's History Month
Women's History Month Reading List--Adults
Disability Pride Month 2023 (WPL-ADULT)
Women's History Month
Women's History Month Reading List--Adults
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When she was 19 months old, Helen Keller (1880-1968) suffered a severe illness that left her blind and deaf. Not long after, she also became mute. Her tenacious struggle to overcome these handicaps-with the help of her inspired teacher, Anne Sullivan-is one of the great stories of human courage and dedication. In this classic autobiography, first published in 1903, Miss Keller recounts the first 22 years of her life, including the magical moment at...
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The Experimental Novel (1880) is an essay by French author Émile Zola. Written at the height of his career as a leading proponent of Naturalism, The Experimental Novel serves to illuminate the author's approach to the practice and purpose of writing while advocating for a revolution of style among artists of his era. Read as a reaction against Romanticism, The Experimental Novel proves a convincing counterpoint to the excesses and failures of nineteenth...
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The Sacred Wood: Essays on Poetry and Criticism (1920) is a collection of essays by T.S. Eliot. Although Eliot is primarily recognized as one of the twentieth century's leading English poets, he was also a prolific and highly influential literary critic. This collection, which includes essays on Algernon Charles Swinburne, Hamlet, William Blake, and Dante, is central to Eliot's legacy and vision of art.
In "Tradition and the Individual Talent,"...
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The Cherry Orchard (1903) is Russian playwright and short story writer Anton Chekhov's final play. It was first performed at the Moscow Art Theatre in 1904, directed by acclaimed actor Konstantin Stanislavski-who also played the role of Leonid Gayev, the bizarre and uninspired brother of Madame Ranevskaya. It has since become one of twentieth century theater's most important-and most frequently staged-dramatic works.
After five years of living in...
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Autobiography of Mark Twain (1907) is a collection of autobiographical writings by American humorist Mark Twain. Dictated toward the end of his life, the Autobiography of Mark Twain is a series of brief reflections on 74 years of fame, hard work, and adventure by an icon of American literature. Originally serialized in the North American Review, the United States' oldest literary magazine, the Autobiography of Mark Twain has gone through countless...
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The Collected Poems and Prose of Jupiter Hammon compiles the works of Jupiter Hammon, America's first published black writer. When his poem "An Evening Thought: Salvation by Christ, with Penitential Cries" appeared in print as a broadside in 1761, Hammon unknowingly changed American literature for generations to come. Born into slavery, Hammon was a highly talented poet and preacher whose subtle criticism of slavery employed Christian symbolism and...
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Confessions of a Young Man (1888) is a memoir by George Moore. Originally written in French, it is a record of his life in Paris as a young man with money and dreams to spare. Controversial for its depictions of bohemianism and pointed critique of Victorian morality, Confessions of a Young Man has been recognized as an invaluable portrait of nineteenth century Paris and the geniuses who struggled to reshape art in their image. Degas. Renoir. Monet....
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The Story of Yone Noguchi (1914) is a memoir by Yone Noguchi. Both a leading modernist poet in English and Japanese and a dedicated literary critic who advocated for the cross-pollination of national poetries, Yone Noguchi lived an extraordinary life. In clear prose and with a confidence earned through decades of dedication to literature, he tells his own story and reflects on his unique experiences while illuminating the influential people and places...
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Tolstoy as Man and Artist with an Essay on Dostoevsky (1901) is a work of literary criticism by Dmitriy Merezhkovsky. Having turned from his work in poetry to a new, spiritually charged interest in fiction, Merezhkovsky sought to develop his theory of the Third Testament, an apocalyptic vision of Christianity's fulfillment in twentieth-century humanity. In this collection of essays on Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, Merezhkovsky explores the spiritual dimensions...
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A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin is a "supplement" book published to document Harriet Beecher Stowe's bestselling book and anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin. An instant classic, Uncle Tom's Cabin (which was first published in 1852) had a profound impact on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the United States. Stowe's novel, which was highly controversial at the time, provoked a firestorm of competing and contradictory responses among...
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Edited and Introduced by WEK Anderson. I have all my life regretted that I did not keep a regular {journal}. I have myself lost recollection of much that was interesting and I have deprived my family and the public of some curious information by not carrying this resolution into effect. Sunday, 20 November 1825 With these words Scott began what many regard as his greatest work, a diary which was to turn into an extraordinary day-to-day account of...
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The Life and Romances of Mrs. Eliza Haywood (1915) is a monograph by George Whicher. Highly regarded by feminist scholars today, Haywood was a prolific writer who revolutionized the English novel while raising a family, running a pamphlet shop in Covent Gardens, and pursuing a career as an actress and writer for some of London's most prominent theaters. In The Life and Romances of Mrs. Eliza Haywood, Whicher blends biography and literary criticism...
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Autobiography of Sir Walter Besant (1902) is a posthumously published autobiography by Walter Besant. Although he is more widely known for his works of fiction and book-length studies of the city of London, Besant was also a gifted autobiographer whose unique sense of self and rich memories make for an entertaining, informative read. "I am supposing that [man] has the choice offered him, together with an outline of the future-not a future of fate...
19) My First Book
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My First Book (1894) is a collection of reminiscences by some of the leading fiction writers of the Victorian era. Beginning with a heartfelt introduction by English humorist Jerome K. Jerome, the collection includes reflections by such literary titans as Robert Louis Stevenson, Rudyard Kipling, and Arthur Conan Doyle. "It rose to my lips to answer him that it was not always the books written very, very well that brought in the biggest heaps of money...
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Paul Laurence Dunbar: Poet Laureate of the Negro Race (1914) is a pamphlet on American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. Published nearly a decade after Dunbar's untimely death, Paul Laurence Dunbar: Poet Laureate of the Negro Race contains three essays on his life, his legacy, and his importance to American literature. Born in Dayton, Ohio, Dunbar was the son of parents who were emancipated from slavery in Kentucky during the American Civil War. In 1893,...
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