Jane Austen's witty comedy of manners features splendidly civilized sparring between the proud Mr. Darcy and the prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet as they play out their spirited courtship in a series of 18th-century drawing-room intrigues.

Originally published in 1864, this Jules Verne classic has wowed generations of readers with its portrayal of an imaginary odyssey into a subterranean wonderland. When Axel deciphers an old parchment describing a secret passage through a volcano to the center of the earth, nothing will stop his eccentric Uncle Lidenbrock from setting out at once. With silent Hans as guide, the two men encounter natural hazards, prehistoric beasts, and other curiosities...

An abridged version of the story of an orphaned young English woman who accepts employment as a governess at Thornfield Hall, a country estate owned by the mysteriously remote Mr. Rochester.

Tarzan of the Apes is a coming of age story of John Clayton, the son of an English couple who are marooned in the western coastal jungles of equatorial Africa. His father is killed by the savage king ape Kerchak, and his mother dies of natural causes. At one year old, Clayton is adopted by the she-ape Kala and renamed Tarzan, or "white-skin" in the ape language.

"In a single, engaging volume, The Great Gatsby presents a helpful literary guide to one of America's most prized classic novels. First published in 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby captured the spirit of the Jazz Age and examined the American obsession with love, wealth, material objects, and class. Considered one of the great novels of the 20th century, Fitzgerald s famous work remains relevant for its observations on the pursuit of...

The main aim of detective stories is to entertain, but the best cast a light on human behaviour, and display both literary ambition and accomplishment. Even unpretentious detective stories, written for unashamedly commercial reasons, can give us clues to the past, and give us insight into a long-vanished world that, for all its imperfections, continues to fascinate. This book, written by award-winning crime writer and president of the Detection Club,...

"In this spellbinding blend of memoir and insight, bestselling author Chuck Palahniuk shares stories and generous advice on what makes writing powerful and what makes for powerful writing. With advice grounded in years of careful study and a keenly observed life, Palahniuk combines practical advice and concrete examples from beloved classics, his own books, and a "kitchen-table MFA" culled from an evolving circle of beloved authors and artists, with...

Presents a thinly fictionalized autobiography of Jack Kerouac's cross-country adventure across North America on a quest for self-knowledge as experienced by his alter-ego, Sal Paradise and Sal's friend Dean Moriarty (Kerouac's real life friend Neal Cassady).

Contains the journalist's classic account of his visit to Las Vegas, and includes three companion pieces