Join thousands of book lovers
Sign up to our newsletter and receive discounts and inspiration for your next reading experience.
By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy.You can, at any time, unsubscribe from our newsletters.
Jack London gained his first and most lasting fame as the author of tales of the Klondike gold rush. This, his first collection of stories, draws on his experience in the Yukon. The stories tell of gambles won and lost, of endurance and sacrifice, and often turn on the qualities of exceptional women and on the relations between the white adventurers and the native tribes.
Pygmalion is a play by George Bernard Shaw, named after a Greek mythological figure. It was first presented on stage to the public in 1913.In ancient Greek mythology, Pygmalion fell in love with one of his sculptures, which then came to life. The general idea of that myth was a popular subject for Victorian era English playwrights, including one of Shaw's influences, W. S. Gilbert, who wrote a successful play based on the story called Pygmalion and Galatea that was first presented in 1871. Shaw would also have been familiar with the burlesque version, Galatea, or Pygmalion Reversed. Shaw's play has been adapted numerous times, most notably as the musical My Fair Lady and its film version.Shaw mentioned that the character of Professor Henry Higgins was inspired by several British professors of phonetics: Alexander Melville Bell, Alexander J. Ellis, Tito Pagliardini, but above all, the cantankerous Henry Sweet.
Emma, by Jane Austen, is a novel about youthful hubris and the perils of misconstrued romance. The novel was first published in December 1815. As in her other novels, Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in Georgian-Regency England; she also creates a lively comedy of manners among her characters. Before she began the novel, Austen wrote, "I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like." In the first sentence, she introduces the title character as "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich." Emma is spoiled, headstrong, and self-satisfied; she greatly overestimates her own matchmaking abilities; she is blind to the dangers of meddling in other people's lives; and her imagination and perceptions often lead her astray. This novel has been adapted for several films, many television programmes, and a long list of stage plays.
The greatest showman of all time, P.T. Barnum was also a brilliant businessman. In this primer for fledgling businessmen, Barnum describes the basics for choosing a career, starting a new business, building wealth, and growing a fortune. The advice Barnum gave his fellow entrepreneurs during America's Gilded Age rings even more true today, in our age of financial uncertainty, great disparities in wealth and opportunity, and social and technological upheaval. Barnum explains how to tell the risks from the opportunities, and how to take advantage of both. This is an essential addition to any library of business or entrepreneurship books, and a spirited read from a master of entertainment. One of the most important financial books ever written.P.T. Barnum (July 5, 1810 - April 7, 1891) was an American businessman, celebrated for founding the circus that became the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Little Women or, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888). Written and published in two parts in 1868 and 1869, the novel follows the lives of four sisters - Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March - and is loosely based on the author's childhood experiences with her three sisters. The first part of the book was an immediate commercial and critical success and prompted the composition of the book's second part, also a huge success. Both parts were first published as a single volume in 1880. The book is an unquestioned American classic.
Sign up to our newsletter and receive discounts and inspiration for your next reading experience.
By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy.