Hermann Hesse's Journey to the East tells of a journey both geographic and spiritual, in a simple and mesmerizing prose. H.H., a German choirmaster, is invited on an expedition with the League, a secret society whose members consist of Paul Klee, Mozart, and Albertus Magnus. The participants traverse both space and time, encountering Noah's Ark in Zurich and Don Quixote at Bremgarten. The pilgrims' ultimate destination is the East, the "Home of the...

The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel is a pentalogy of novels written in the 16th century by François Rabelais, telling the adventures of two giants, Gargantua and his son Pantagruel. The work is written in an amusing, extravagant, and satirical vein; features much erudition, vulgarity, and wordplay; and is regularly compared with the works of William Shakespeare and James Joyce. Rabelais was a polyglot, and the work introduced "a great number...

North of Boston (1914) is a collection of poems by American poet Robert Frost. Following the success of Frost's debut, A Boy's Will (1913), North of Boston was published in London to enthusiastic reviews from both Ezra Pound and W.B. Yeats. His success abroad quickly translated to critical acclaim in the United States, and Frost would eventually be recognized as a leading American poet. "Mending Wall" takes place in spring, as the people emerge...

The first great adventure story in the Western canon, The Odyssey is a poem about violence and the aftermath of war; about wealth, poverty, and power; about marriage and family; about travelers, hospitality, and the yearning for home.In this fresh, authoritative version--the first English translation of The Odyssey by a woman--this stirring tale of shipwrecks, monsters, and magic comes alive in an entirely new way. Written in iambic pentameter verse...

A retelling of the medieval poem about a group of travelers on a pilgrimage to Canterbury and the tales they tell each other. With their astonishing diversity of tone and subject matter, The Canterbury Tales have become one of the touchstones of medieval literature. Translated here into modern English, these tales of a motley crowd of pilgrims drawn from all walks of life-from knight to nun, miller to monk-reveal a picture of English life in the fourteenth...

The centuries old epic about the wrath of Achilles is rendered into modern English verse by a renowned translator and accompanied by an introduction that reassesses the identity of Homer. In Robert Fagles' beautifully rendered text, the Iliad overwhelms us afresh. The huge themes godlike, yet utterly human of savagery and calculation, of destiny defied, of triumph and grief compel our own humanity. Time after time, one pauses and re-reads before continuing....

Contains the complete text of the libretto with annotations in both English and Italian and a critical historical commentary. The text also includes the background of the composer, biographies of the principal singers and conductor. The two accompanying CDs contain the complete opera sung in Italian

Why is it that men, and not women, have always had power, wealth, and fame? Woolf cites the two keys to freedom: fixed income and one's own room. Foreword by Mary Gordon.

An illustrated version of the classic Christmas poem about a visit from St. Nick. Includes a specially created three-track musical and narrative CD featuring Moore's tale stunningly set to music by Noel Paul Stookey, an enchanting reading by Mary Travers over a special score composed by Peter Yarrow with Peter and Noel joining Mary one last time in her final performance, plus the classic Peter, Paul and Mary holiday favorite, ""A' Soalin."

A collection of maxims, arranged in approximately thirty categories, selected from various editions of Benjamin Franklin's "Poor Richard's Almanack."