Books in the Thrift Editions series

Prosperous and socially prominent, George Babbitt appears to have everything a man could wish: good health, a fine family, and a profitable business in a booming Midwestern city. But the middle-aged real estate agent is shaken from his self-satisfaction by a growing restlessness with the limitations of his life. When a personal crisis forces a reexamination of his values, Babbitt mounts a rebellion against social expectations--jeopardizing his reputation and business standing as well as his marriage.Widely considered Sinclair Lewis' greatest novel, this satire of the American social landscape created a sensation upon its 1922 publication. Babbitt's name became an instant and enduring synonym for middle-class complacency, and the strictures of his existence revealed the emptiness of the mainstream vision of success. His story reflects the nature of a conformist society, in which the pressures of maintaining propriety can ultimately cause individuals to lose their place in the world.

Posthumously published collection of the philosopher's notes on the force that drives humans toward achievement. Absorbing reflections by a great thinker on art, morality, Christianity, nihilism, and other topics.

One of the glories of Elizabethan drama: Marlowe's powerful retelling of the story of the learned German doctor who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and power. Footnotes.

Vividly recounting Washington's life--his childhood as a slave, struggle for education, founding and presidency of the Tuskegee Institute, and meetings with the country's leaders, this book reveals the conviction he held that the black man's salvation lay in education, industriousness and self-reliance.

This apocalyptic tale by the author of Frankenstein envisions a future world devastated by plague. Misunderstood by contemporary readers, Mary Shelley's 1826 precursor to the science fiction novel has reemerged to critical acclaim.

This 1890 study offers a monumental exploration of the cults, rites, and myths of antiquity and their parallels with those of early Christianity. Abridged by the author from his 12-volume work.

Crane's classic of American literary naturalism offers a realistic portrayal of late 19th-century slum life. Reprint of the text of the 1893 first edition, rather than the later bowdlerized version.

Stories by a wide range of contemporary authors that includes Johnson, Eastman, and Oskison, as well as writers who came to prominence in the decades following World War II.

This classic of the interior life and Christian mysticism by the sainted 16th-century Spanish mystic and Carmelite nun focuses on the practice of prayer. Modern readers will appreciate its warmth and accessibility.

A hypochondriac, victimized by pompous physicians, tests the loyalty of a loving daughter and discovers the contempt of his scheming and greedy second wife. This classic comedy from one of the most brilliant satirists in the history of literature deflates the pretensions of society and reveals the universal frailties of humanity.

Strikingly modern in subject and narrative voice, this 1897 novel centers on a child's view of a bitter divorce. Rather than a gloomy parable of innocence corrupted, it abounds in dark humor.

During the 1850s and 1860s more than 100,000 people escaped slavery in the American South by following the Underground Railroad, a complex network of secret routes and safe houses. This inexpensive compilation of firsthand accounts offers authentic insights into the Civil War era and African-American history with compelling narratives by Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and lesser-known refugees.Thirty selections include the story of Eliza Harris, "The Slave Woman Who Crossed the Ohio River on the Drifting Ice with Her Child in Her Arms," whose experience inspired a memorable scene in Uncle Tom's Cabin. Other accounts include that of Henry "Box" Brown, who hid in a crate mailed to Philadelphia abolitionists; excerpts from Harriet Jacobs's 1861 narrative, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl; and the remarkable flight of William and Ellen Craft, "Female Slave in Male Attire, Fleeing as a Planter, with Her Husband as Her Body Servant."

Over 150 exquisite poems deal with love, friendship, the tyranny of time, beauty's evanescence, death, and other themes in language of remarkable power, precision, and beauty. Glossary of archaic terms.

This selection highlights 30 tales from classical mythology: Venus and Adonis, Pygmalion, Apollo and Daphne, Narcissus, Perseus and Andromeda, Orpheus and Eurydice, the Cyclops, and Circe, among others. F. A. Wright translation.

This historical novel purportedly written by Joan's longtime friend -- Sieur Louis de Conte -- discloses Twain's unrestrained admiration for the French heroine's nobility of character.

Regarded as the first voice of black feminism, these essays focus on racial progress and women's rights. Author emphasizes importance of women's education and discusses African Americans' economic role and their literary representation.