Barnes Noble: 2826 books

This 1915 collection of literary essays reflects the author's conviction that such essays should ideally convey to readers the impact of an author or work of fiction upon the critic: no more and no less.  The artists covered include Rabelais, Dante, Shakespeare, Milton, Dickens, Nietzsche, Hardy, Poe, and Whitman, among other greats.

After his post office job and a failed run for Parliament, Trollope set up shop as a magazine editor. These stories of the publishing trade, gathered in 1870, reveal his bawdy side: “The Turkish Bath,” “Mary Gresley,” “Josephine de Montmorenci,” “The Panjandrum,” “The Spotted Duo,” and “Mrs. Brumby.”

In The American Mind (1912), the author defines and interprets American literature as it reflects the nation’s character—including its people’s confidence, recklessness, and oratory as well as their belief in institutions. American Idealism (1913) examines how the nation’s ideals are reflected...

The poems in this 1892 collection by the author of The Devil’s Dictionary often deal with topical events and personalities—while some display his dark wit, others are light and amusing. “The order in which the beetles are shown,” as the author puts it, includes “The Key Note,” “Cain,”...

This swashbuckling romance follows the fortunes of Miss Charlotte Durand, a Confederate patriot. She falls in love with and marries Captain Oliver only to learn, much to her surprise, that Captain Oliver is not the Confederate officer she believed him to be, but, rather, a Yankee spy. The Cavalier was later adapted for the stage.

The Satyricon offers a mocking, insider's glimpse into the most excessively decadent, cruel, and contradictory aspects of life in Nero's Rome. A series of wandering, debauchery-filled tales, starring a picaresque anti-hero named Encolpius, the text leaves no stone unturned in its relentlessly humorous...

When Washington Irving returned to America after seventeen years abroad, he headed west on a surveying mission deep into Native American territory. Irving, as Crayon, is a careful observer of the great range of human life, his skills evident in A Crayon Miscellany, a collection of sketches about his experiences on the frontier.

First published in book form in 1921, this essay collection offers a multitude of witty examples of the humor found in everyday life. Whether he’s pondering or ranting, Benchley makes wry observations on such topics as energy conservation, the game of bridge, and learning to drive. They are as funny today as they were ninety years ago.

No one knows if Florence Nightingale deliberately set out to become a nursing champion, but it is clear that the 1859 publication of her book Notes on Nursing: What It Is, And What It Is Not secured her place in nursing history. By the author's own admission, the work was not written as a training...

This entertaining collection of short stories contains six shorts—biographies of fictional characters, with Beerbohm himself as the seventh man with whom the others interact. One of the most popular stories in the collection is “Enoch Soames,” the tale of a poet who makes a deal with the devil to find out how he will be remembered.

A seminal essay on secular and religious power, De Monarchia examines the relationship between secular authority (represented by the Holy Roman Emperor) and religious authority (represented by the Pope)—a controversial subject at the time. Dante’s point of view is clear; he had defended the autonomy of Florence against the demands of Pope Boniface VIII.

The Mad magazine of its day, the satirical journal Salmagundi was launched in 1807 by Washington Irving, his brother William, and their friend James Kirke Paulding. Featuring pseudonyms like Will Wizard and Pindar Cockloft, their nonsensical (and occasionally bawdy) comedy is collected in this volume, which popularized New York City’s nickname “Gotham.”

Saki was called the Oscar Wilde of his day, and hailed as a master stylist. Using witty dialogue and macabre humor, he writes of mischievous young men, foolish aunts, and blood-thirsty beasts. His stories are surprisingly modern in their incongruous mixture of humor and horror. The first truly comprehensive...

This is the second of three volumes of Louisa May Alcott’s stories for her niece, Lulu. The book was also titled, “Flower Fables” and “The Frost King.” In these tales, which range from realistic fables to fantasy stories and fairy tales, Alcott hides clear moral truths.