Great Authors

The young John Updike’s portrayal of a haughty seminary student working as a lifeguard is witty and poetic, as the naïve hero surveys the beachgoers in his care, and contemplates a future of saving souls as well as bodies.

Nelson Algren brings a deeply personal tone to his reading about Sophie, the doomed wife of card dealer and drug addict Frankie Machine, wanted for murder, as she waits futilely for him to return home.

From the poignant novel about a troubled Southern family, written when he was 26, William Styron reads with tenderness about the disabled younger child finding joy in the magic tricks of a workman, as her mother looks on, knowing her child’s sad fate.

In the first passage James Baldwin reads with passion about the suicide of a young black man in despair. The second passage takes place at his funeral service, where Baldwin speaks with both anger and eloquence, in the voice of the minister attempting to comfort his friends and family.

James Jones brings powerful emotion and expression to his reading of the famous passage from his celebrated World War II novel in which Private Prewitt plays a version of Taps that expresses "the requiem of the common soldier".

The author of the "dazzling epic" (Lev Grossman, Time) Brilliant delivers an indelible view of the ways silence affects those who seek it and those who have it imposed upon them. Through her original, intertwined histories of the penitentiary and the monastery, Jane Brox illuminates the many ways silence is far more complex than any absolute; how it has influenced ideas of the self, soul, and society.

The Science of Being Great is truly a treasure...a personal-growth classic. Wallace D. Wattles' final word in self mastery has a powerful message that will be of value to every person who seeks true fulfillment and the awakening of his or her highest potential. A companion work to Wattles' other classic, The Science of Getting Rich, this audiobook is a summary of the knowledge that the author culled after studying the wisdom of the world's religious leaders and great philosophers.

In a future world where people can buy and sell intelligence, citizens are each allocated 100 1.Q. points at birth. When they turn 16, they can make a choice either to remain as 100s and be cared for by the state, or they can gamble with their intelligence. Those who succeed become high I.Q.s and enjoy all of the benefits this brings; those who fail lead squalid lives and some eventually become I.Q. 30 glidiots, battling in the Glidiot Games in a pop-up maze where they kill one another for I.Q. points and for public amusement.

In a future world where people can buy and sell intelligence, citizens are each allocated 100 1.Q. points at birth. When they turn 16, they can make a choice either to remain as 100s and be cared for by the state, or they can gamble with their intelligence. Those who succeed become high I.Q.s and enjoy all of the benefits this brings; those who fail lead squalid lives and some eventually become I.Q. 30 glidiots, battling in the Glidiot Games in a pop-up maze where they kill one another for I.Q. points and for public amusement.

A blockbuster illustrated book that captures what Americans love to read, The Great American Read: The Book of Books is the gorgeously-produced companion book to PBS's ambitious summer 2018 series.

What are America's best-loved novels? PBS will launch The Great American Read series with a two-hour special in May 2018 revealing America's 100 best-loved novels, determined by a rigorous national survey. Subsequent episodes will air in September and October. Celebrities and everyday Americans will champion their favorite novel and in the finale in late October, America's number one best-loved novel will be revealed.

The Great American Read: The Book of Books will present all 100 novels with fascinating information about each book, author profiles, a snapshot of the novel's social relevance, film or television adaptations, other books and writings by the author, and little-known facts. Also included are themed articles about banned books, the most influential book illustrators, reading recommendations, the best first-lines in literature, and more.

Beautifully designed with rare images of the original manuscripts, first-edition covers, rejection letters, and other ephemera, The Great American Read: The Book of Books is a must-have book for all book lovers.

In The Violet Hour, Katie Roiphe takes an unexpected and liberating approach to the most unavoidable of subjects. She investigates the last days of six great thinkers, writers, and artists as they come to terms with the reality of approaching death, or what T. S. Eliot called "the evening hour that strives Homeward, and brings the sailor home from sea".

An astounding look at how America’s founders—Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Madison, Adams—regarded the issue of slavery as they drafted the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. A daring and important work that ultimately reckons with the two great failures of America’s founding: the failure to end slavery and the failure to avoid Indian removal.

Experience the action, adventure and fantasy of the Tales of Averon books, brought together for the first time in one complete volume! The forest of Averon befalls a great evil when Streak, a lone fox from the Great Vast Open stumbles upon it during an escape from the Dark Army. Streak finds sanctuary, but soon realises the consequence of leading such a ruthless pack of hunters to the peaceful forest.

Arabella’s life was boring until strange things began to happen to her. One day, she is out eating pizza and then suddenly she finds herself with her brother, Tom, in the middle of the Great Siege of Malta in 1565 when the Knights of St. John showed great courage and fortitude in fighting off an invasion from the Turkish Empire. Will they join Grandmaster Valette in battle?

To coincide with the bicentennial of Thoreau's birth in 2017, this thrilling, meticulous biography by naturalist and historian Kevin Dann fills a gap in our understanding of one modern history's most important spiritual visionaries by capturing the full arc of Thoreau's life as a mystic, spiritual seeker, and explorer in transcendental realms.

I checked and I'm the only author on Amazon today who can boast a catalog of all his greatest hits. I'm not bragging, nor do I expect to win the Nobel Prize for any of these great ideas, but that's not because they are not worthy of the great award, but because I have as yet to make any of them become household words or ideas. I hope your enjoyment of this catalog will change all that and propel at least one of them up to the bight spotlight of nationally known and or generally accepted ideas made from pure genius.

Al Silverman, a noted figure in American publishing, has written a wonderful chronicle of book publishing for all who cherish books. The Time of Their Lives is not only a love song to the industry's golden age, an era that began after World War II and lasted for three-plus decades, but it is also a reflection of the tastes and cultural appetites of the American public.

Dive deep into the world of sharks, the most fascinating and misunderstood marine animals on the planet, in this stunning new edition of The Shark Handbook, written by Shark Week expert, Dr. Greg Skomal.

Many people have the problem of not fully understanding literary classics due to the different time periods and translations. Well, this classics collection audiobook is the perfect solution because it lays character analysis and plot climaxes to help with understanding the material. A lot of people usually have to shop around to to find the classic writers' work, but luckily the Classic Writers Literary Classic Collection audiobook is able to place two classic authors in one book with a character analysis.

It's 1831, and Lady Gwendolyn Crichton has been appointed royal sorceress following the tragic events known as the Swing. Now alone at the head of the Royal College of Sorcerers, Gwen must overcome prejudice against her gender and age if she is to exercise her authority and fulfill her responsibilities. Soon, an unexpected responsibility is made manifest when Sir Travis Mortimer, a senior magician recently returned from India, is found murdered in a locked room.