Literary Criticism
The Last Day of a Condemned
A man who has been condemned to death writes down his cogitations, feelings and fears while he is waiting for his execution. He does not bet…
Love Among the Artists
Love Among the Artists was published in the United States in 1900 and in England in 1914, but it was written in 1881. In the ambience of chi…
Under the Shadow of Etna
The short stories of Giovanni Verga, one of the leading authors of Italian verismo, or realism, tell mostly of working-class characters in r…
Mardi
Mardi is Melville's first purely fictional work. In it he contemplates man's beliefs, and questions whether or not one faith has value over …
A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is a timeless tale that explores the transformative power of compassion and redemption. Follow the jour…
The Autobiography of Goethe
A literary celebrity by the age of 25, Goethe was ennobled by the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, Carl August in 1782 after first taking up residence t…
The Lost Art of Reading
Gerald Stanley Lee speaks here-in of books and self in the time of factories, tall buildings and industry and big city making, the effects o…
The Innerglow Effect
Drug companies continue to come out with powerful new medicines. Some produce wondrous responses while others have unforeseen side effects.…
David Copperfield
David Copperfield is a rich and intricate tale that chronicles the life of its titular character from childhood to adulthood. Through a seri…
Germinal
This epic about French coal miners and the burgeoning labor movement is considered one of Zola's finest novels. - Summary by Matt Pierard
A Long Way from Disney
It's the 1980s in Boston: the Celtics are rolling, the Patriots got crushed by the Bears, and the Sox are the Sox. Adam Berkman is learning …
Confidence
This light and somewhat awkward comedy centers on artist Bernard Longueville, scientist Gordon Wright, and the sometimes inscrutable heroine…
Lodore
The author of Frankenstein returns with her take on an Austen novel. The mother is proud, the father has many vices, yet the aristocratic na…
Must Not Sleep
By turns hilarious and chilling, poet and novelist Michael Brownstein's latest novel MUST NOT SLEEP is a shamanic initiation into personal f…
Two Sides To Every Question
'Two Sides to Every Question’: From a South Australian Standpoint is a meditation on poverty, wealth, and social aspiration set in the free …
Nana
Excerpt from Introduction:"Nana" stands third in popularity among the Zola novels. It is a study of the prostitute type and it giv…
Howards End
The Schlegels frequently encounter the Wilcoxes. The youngest, Helen, is rejected by the younger Wilcox brother, Paul. The eldest, Margaret,…
Camilla
Camilla is Frances Burney's third novel. It became very popular upon its publication in 1796. Jane Austen referred to it, among other novels…
Poor Folk
Known as Fyodor Dostoyevski's first novel, Poor Folk portrays the life of poor people and poverty in a general sense. This novel is short i…
Pushing Leaves Towards the Sun
When Oso gets yanked off his motorcycle and killed by a closed parking lot chain, Billy feels guilty for having taught him to hop curbs and …