Humor Classics

Pubblicato originariamente in venti puntate mensili, tra il 1836 e il 1837, il romanzo incontrò già all'epoca un grande successo popolare, soprattutto a partire dalla comparsa di Sam Weller (nel quinto capitolo), che portò le vendite a oltre quarantamila copie per numero. Oreste Del Buono sottolineava che la pubblicazione dei fascicoli rappresentava una sorta di evento: li leggevano nei cortili ad alta voce a tutta la famiglia.

When the aging Russian Prince Prince K. arrives in the town of Mordasov, Marya Alexandrovna Moskaleva, a doyenne of local society life, takes him under her protection with the aim of engineering his marriage with her 23-year-old daughter Zina. Yet with many rivals for the hands of both parties, events are not guaranteed to run smoothly. A rare foray into comedy by the giant of Russian literature, this tale still possesses all the hallmarks of Dostoevsky's psychological and philosophical writing.

The Freaks of Mayfair by E.F. Benson is a series of satirical sketches introducing us to some bizarre inhabitants of Edwardian High Society of Mayfair, which was, and still is today, the stamping ground of the very wealthy. Each sketch introduces a different type of "freak". Sir Louis and Lady Mary Marigold turn snobbism into fine art; Sarah Whitehand is the social-climbing wife of an American toilet bowl magnate, and the so-called "Grizzly Kittens", Babs Begum and Charlie Gordon, cling desperately to their youth as they totter toward old age.

Patty Wyatt is a fun-loving, headstrong, and intelligent girl who gets herself into mischief and learns valuable lessons, both in and out of the classroom. Now you can hear the complete story in this box set, from Patty’s boarding school days to her college life. Just Patty was masterfully crafted by Jean Webster as a prequel to her classic title, When Patty Went to College.

An Georg Christoph Lichtenberg kam vor mehr als 200 Jahren nichts unkommentiert vorbei - weder eine mathematische Formel noch eine Alltagsbeobachtung. Der studierte Physiker, Mathematiker und Astronom konnte komplexe Zusammenhänge anschaulich zuspitzen. In seinen "Sudelbüchern" notierte er Tausende davon. Heute gilt Lichtenberg nicht nur als einer der originellsten Köpfe des 18. Jahrhunderts, sondern auch als Begründer des modernen deutschen Aphorismus. Baldur Seifert liest "Aus den Sudelbüchern", die bis heute nichts von ihrem Witz und Scharfsinn verloren haben.

Having assumed the form of an American multimillionaire, Satan sets out on a tour through Europe in quest of amusement and adventure. He observes a panopoly of subversive and hypocritical behaviors, the abhorrent cruelty of men and the deceptive innocence of women. Within a short time, Prince of Hell finds himself outwitted, deceived, relieved of his millions, mocked and humiliated, and beaten by man by the use of his own devilish devices.

Книга "НАШИ ЗА ГРАНИЦЕЙ" [1890] до революции выдержала 27 изданий. Затем долго не издавалась - ездить за границу было не модно. В наше время издатель Захаров дал книге 28-ю, а студия "АРДИС" - 29-ю жизнь. В книге рассказывается, как молодой купец решил съездить в Париж на Всемирную выставку.

Золотой теленок - роман Ильи Ильфа и Евгения Петрова. В основе сюжета - дальнейшие приключения центрального персонажа "Двенадцати стульев" Остапа Бендера, происходящие на фоне картин советской жизни начала 1930-х годов. Жанр - плутовской роман, социальная сатира, роман-фельетон.

Josef Schwejk lebt 1914 als behördlich anerkannter Idiot in Prag. Dennoch soll er Kriegsdienst leisten, und so gerät er ins riesige Getriebe der k. u. k. Armee. Schwejk wird Bursche beim Feldkurat Katz, der ihn beim Kartenspiel an Oberleutnant Lukasch verspielt. Mit dem kommt er an die Front, findet aber immer wieder Schlupflöcher, um den Kämpfen zu entgehen. Er verpasst den Zug, vertrinkt sein Fahrgeld und stolpert von einem Missgeschick ins Nächste.

"Mystically powered terrorists unleash volatile magic on the world, turning Washington, D.C., into a politically-charged fantasyland ripe for human sacrifice. Attackers with magical abilities bring down a 747 by summoning a dragon to rip it from the sky, using the hundreds of lives lost as a sacrifice to initiate the Change. The country morphs into a new landscape of swords and sorcery. Now computers and other machines are coming to life, and regular people have started to turn into mythical creatures and forgotten deities." ( Kirkus Reviews)

"The Red Room" (Swedish: "Röda rummet") is a satire of Stockholm society, it has frequently been described as the first modern Swedish novel. While receiving mixed reviews in Sweden, it was acclaimed in Denmark, where Strindberg was hailed as a genius. As a result of "The Red Room", Strindberg became famous throughout Scandinavia. Edvard Brandes wrote that it "makes the reader want to join the fight against hypocrisy and reaction".

Quando Lemuel Gulliver si sveglia su un'isola dopo un naufragio, con mani e piedi legati e tante frecce puntate su di lui, penseresti che ogni speranza è perduta. Ma i rapitori sono alti un dito, la corda è sottile come un filo e le piccole frecce sfiorano appena la superficie della pelle di Gulliver. Questa storia non è nemmeno tanto assurda rispetto a quanto capiterà a Gulliver in mare, ma, ironicamente, nessuna avventura susciterà una reazione emotiva nell'uomo. "I viaggi di Gulliver" (1726) di Jonathan Swift sono un'ottima satira politica.

Gulliver’s Travels takes listeners on an adventure to fictional and real places in the world, with fantastical elements such as a society of tiny people, flying cities, and the ghosts of ancient world leaders. Gulliver’s adventure takes him all over, and each location is uniquely themed and satirizes themes from our real world.

Faulkner’s second novel follows a bohemian cast of artists, socialites, and dilettantes as they set sail on a four-day excursion aboard the Nausikaa. Faulkner’s quick wit and endless appetite for satire make this audiobook a fascinating exploration of character, as well as a rare glimpse into the author himself. The novel explores questions of sex and sexuality, as well as the societal role of the artist. Inspired by his own participation in the arts community in New Orleans, Mosquitoes is an engaging and delightful novel from one of America’s greatest writers.

A beautifully crafted collection of eight short stories by Edna Ferber: In Gigolo, Edna Ferber delves into the minds of eight diverse characters from all walks and stages of life.

In Leonce und Lena flieht der gelangweilte Prinz Leonce seiner arrangierten Hochzeit und landet ausgerechnet in Italien – nur um dort auf die ebenfalls entwischte Lena zu treffen und sich unversehens zu verlieben. Büchners einziges Lustspiel zählt zu den schönsten und scharfsinnigsten deutschen Komödien – mit Witz, Ironie und Gesellschaftssatire. Sven Görtz verleiht der ungekürzten Lesung eine lebendige, humorvolle Interpretation, die den spritzigen Dialogen gerecht wird.

The character of Bertram “Bertie” Wooster told the stories in first person style. He had a valet who stole some of his silk sox and was discharged. The agency sent replacement Reginald “Reggie” Jeeves. He arrived, mixed a hangover cure that was much needed and accepted, and the two were together from then on. Bertie, rich and toil-free, disliked hard work, some bossy women, and most children. He had a somewhat dingbat friend, Bingo Little, who fell in love with every girl he met.

Has Jeeves finally lost his grip? Wealthy, scatterbrained Bertie Wooster—with the aid of his ever-faithful butler, Jeeves—attempts to romantically link dreamy, soulful Gussie Fink-Nottle with soppy, sweet Madeline Bassett. But as soon as Bertie takes Gussie and Madeline's love connection into his own hands, things go disastrously wrong! Fortunately, Jeeves steps in to set matters straight. But the characters must endure tangled layers of comedic complications before they reach the invariably clever and satisfying finale.

Hard Times is the tenth novel by Charles Dickens, first published in 1854. The book surveys English society and satirizes the social and economic conditions of the era. Hard Times is unusual in several ways. It is by far the shortest of Dickens's novels, barely a quarter of the length of those written immediately before and after it. Moreover, it is his only novel not to have scenes set in London. Instead, the story is set in the fictitious Victorian industrial Coketown, a generic Northern English mill-town.

Il romanzo venne pubblicato nel 1840 su un settimanale , e come volume nel 1842. Si compone di una carrellata di personaggi e di descrizioni dettagliate dei luoghi attraversati dalla piccola Nell e da suo nonno, nella loro fuga da Londra. Il libro alterna momenti di caratterizzazione comica dei personaggi (vi si intravedono le radici di altri successivi umoristi di lingua inglese, come Jerome e Wodehouse) a passaggi drammatici, che, tuttavia, come in tutta l’opera di Dickens, non mancano di morale.