Literary Collections

Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna von Habsburg-Lothringen, (November 2, 1755 - October 16, 1793), known to history as Marie Antoinette, was born an Archduchess of Austria, and later became Queen of France and Navarre. She was married to Louis XVI of France at age 14, and was the mother of "lost Dauphin" Louis XVII. Marie Antoinette is perhaps best remembered for her legendary (and, some modern historians say, exaggerated) excesses, and for her death: she was executed by guillotine at the height of the French Revolution in 1793, for the crime of treason. [Adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Antoinette under the terms of the GNU-FDL] more...

Price: $6.99

A Room of One´s Own is a curious essay. Presented originally as two speeches to the Arts Society at Newham in 1928, the work is remarkable for its distinctive tone, for Woolf´s witty and deceptively casual style, and for her decision to largely eschew abstract arguments in favor of narrative, anecdote and the guidance of a strong, abiding first person narrator. She also, refreshingly, avoids doctrine and bombast, instead infusing her arguments with subtlety, curiosity and open-minded speculation. more...

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This concise volume collects the core writings that have made Ralph Waldo Emerson into a key source of insight for spiritual seekers of every faithawith an introduction by the bestselling philosopher Jacob Needleman. Here is the essential collection of Emersonas spiritual thought for those readers who understand the transformative quality of ideas. It is concise and suited to years of rereading and contemplation, offering the essays that trace the arc of the inner message brought by Americaas "aYankee Mystic."a "The Spiritual Emerson" features many of Emersonas landmark works. Yet also included are overlooked classics, such as the essays aFatea and aSuccess, a which served as major sources of inspiration to some of the leading American metaphysical thinkers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The introduction by religious scholar and philosopher Jacob Needleman framesahistorically and philosophicallyathe development of Emersonas thought and explores why it has such a powerful hold on us today. more...

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Since its first publication in 1908, generations of adults and children have cherished Kenneth Grahame’s classic, The Wind in the Willows . For in this entrancing, lyrical world of gurgling rivers and whispering reeds live four of the wisest, wittiest, noblest, and most lovable creatures in all literature—Rat, Mole, Badger, and Toad of Toad Hall. more...

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Abandoned by her mother, beaten by her father, and hurriedly married off at twelve to an abusive man twice her age, Baby Halder's early life was marked by overwhelming challenges and heartbreak. Exhausted and desperate, the young mother finally fled with her three children in 1999 to Delhi, where she found work as a maid in some of the city's wealthiest homes. Expected to serve her employers' every grueling demand, Halder faced a staggering workload that often left her no time to care for her own children. The young woman's luck finally turned when she started working for Prabodh Kumar, a retired anthropology professor who noticed Halder's interest in his library. Kumar helped her to read his books and newspapers—which she devoured enthusiastically—then suggested that she write down her own life story. In A Life Less Ordinary, the fascinating result of her writing sessions with Kumar, Halder speaks for a multitude of Indian women, revealing a world of poverty and subjugation few outsiders have heard about. Halder writes simply and candidly of her life as a young girl, and later as a struggling mother. Without a trace of melodrama or self-pity, she describes her experiences of growing up poor and neglected, struggling to manage children and a violent husband while she herself was only fourteen years old, and, finally, of escaping her past ultimately to triumph as a writer. Already a huge success in India, where it has been published in Hindi, Bengali, and several other languages, A Life Less Ordinary is an astonishing story of strength, courage, and determination that continues to inspire readers everywhere. more...

Price: $10.95