Humor Classics

Based on Kipling's own adolescent experiences, Stalky and Co. is a cunning story of mischievous 19th century British schoolboys attempting scholastic mutiny. The faculty and headmaster of a boys' private school repeatedly pursue a trio of poetic pranksters, "Stalky", "Beetle", and "Turkey", as they wage war on fellow students and the "establishment" with unwavering energy and creativity.

Few authors in America write with such sheer love of story, language, and imagination as T.C. Boyle, and nowhere is that passion more evident than in his inventive, wickedly funny, and widely praised short stories. In After the Plague, Boyle speaks of contemporary social issues in a range of...

The fourteen stories gathered here, which have appeared in The New Yorker, GQ, Harper's, McSweeney's, and Playboy, as well as in The O. Henry Prize Stories and Best American Stories volumes, display T. C. Boyle's imaginative muscle, emotional sensitivity and astonishing range. There are the...

The Wonderful Visit tells the story of an angel who finds himself unexpectedly marooned on Earth. Wells used John Ruskin's remark that an angel appearing on earth in Victorian England would be shot on sight as the inspiration for this tale of a celestial being who is completely out of place in human society. Ironically, the angel's first confidant and protector is a clergyman, who never recovers from the eventual and inevitable disappearance of the angel. Wells dwells in detail on the contrast between the idealism of the celestial visitor and the discourtesy of his hosts.

Neuausgabe im Rahmen von "Frankfurt liest ein Buch 2022". Frankfurt, 1936: Menschenmassen strömen auf den Opernplatz, um Hitler zu sehen. Auch die 19-jährige Susanne ist darunter. Sie wartet auf ein Lebenszeichen ihres Verlobten Franz. Doch Franz ist in die Fänge der Gestapo geraten und wurde tagelang festgehalten. Nach seiner Freilassung hat er sich an dem Denunzianten gerächt und nun bleibt ihm nur die Flucht.

Una auténtica profanación del poder eclesiástico de su tiempo por el maestro del género satírico. El presente volumen reúne tres de las obras más importantes del gran escritor irlandés, todas publicadas en 1704: "Cuento de un tonel", obra maestra de la primera etapa creativa del autor, sátira eufórica que, para muchos, es tan importante como la que le consagró de por vida, "Los Viajes de Gulliver";...

Arkady Averchenko - brilliant writer of humorous stories and novels, which have stood the test of time. His works have enjoyed enormous popularity in pre-revolutionary Russia, and after the exile - among the Russian diaspora. His stories are really funny, subtle and clever - a rare combination for a comedian. And they are written in excellent literary style.

Tom Swift and his Electric Runabout takes us back to gentler times when the bad guys weren't really that bad, didn't carry Uzis, and being an inventor like Thomas Edison was the dream of many young boys. In this book our hero creates an electric automobile with a top speed of over 100 mi./h, saves the bank, gives the bully two black eyes, wins the prize for the fastest automobile in a 500 mile race, only stopping once to recharge his batteries. Without a NASCAR pit crew, it only took Tom 25 min.

The boys at Linbury Court Preparatory School are eager to speed up the progress of space travel, and none more so than Jennings, whose first task is to find a suitable helmet. But is it really a good idea to take a dome-shaped glass-case, which previously housed a stuffed woodpecker, and place it over his head? Petrified paintpots! Jennings and Darbishire's luck is in when they hitch a ride with an international cricketer, and could it be that they've done something right for once when they attempt to apprehend a suspected burglar? Bat-witted clodpoll!

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome tells the story of three friends and their dog after they decide to take a boating trip along the Thames River. Taking a boat along the river was a popular way to spend a few days at the time, but most people who indulged in the activity probably didn't have as adventurous a time as J, George, Harris, and Montmorency the fox terrier when they came upon the perfect way (at least, it seems like this at the time) to spend their summer holidays.

Charles De Coster, 1827 in München geboren, aufgewachsen in Brüssel, griff die Legende vom Taugenichts Till Eulenspiegel auf und transportierte sie ins 16. Jahrhundert, genauer in die Zeit des Achtzigjährigen Krieges. Womöglich war es sein Engagement für die Satire-Zeitung "Uylenspiegel", das De Coster den Volkshelden näherbrachte. Doch ist sein "Ulenspiegel" nicht nur ein Schelmenstück, sondern auch ein historischer Roman mit einer Hauptfigur, die Freiheitsheld und Widerstandskämpfer zugleich ist.

As Jeeves and Bertie fall out over the latter's new white mess jacket, the young master takes exception to Jeeves' handling of the romantic affairs of newt enthusiast Gussie Fink-Nottle and assumes personal charge of the case. But Bertie's schemes soon expand to encompass the ruptured engagement of his cousin Angela and Tuppy Glossop, and the financial problems of his Aunt Dahlia - leading to unforeseen difficulties with Aunt Dahlia's peerless French chef, the temperamental Monsieur Anatole.

Lenny Hodge and his supernatural team are once again called on by Terrifitemps (the temporary employment agency that secretly controls the world) to save the Earth from a dire fate! The sinister Grubnoids have appeared from deep beneath the surface of our world, ready to fulfill their destiny! The Grubnoids plan to recreate every television show ever broadcast, and they will use the entire population of Earth as their unwilling puppets! Will Lenny and his talented team save the day? Or will the entire population of our planet become part of a game show that never ends?

Alice is hiding an unusual power, a power that she has to keep secret. In movies, this would make Alice a superhero, a principal character with a sparky trick up her sleeve. However, in the reality of office life, this power is proving to be a pain in the rear end. Alice gives out massive static shocks. Alright, this might not be the most spectacular gift, but it can fuse electrical circuits, cripple low-life creeps on the underground, and foil bank robberies.

When Connecticut mechanic and foreman Hank Morgan is knocked unconscious, he wakes not to the familiar scenes of 19th century America, but to the bewildering sights and sounds of 6th century Camelot. Although confused at first and quickly imprisoned, he soon realizes that his knowledge of the future can transform his fate. Correctly predicting a solar eclipse from inside his prison cell, Morgan terrifies the people of England into releasing him and swiftly establishes himself as the most powerful magician in the land, stronger than Merlin and greatly admired by Arthur himself.

As the demons gather to debate John’s disappearance the scattered parts of his soul plan revenge on those responsible. All that stands between him and success is his newly acquired Tourette’s Syndrome and an increasing list of pursuers. Demons, Satan, shadow souls and a gang of deceased murderous dictators all want a piece of him. Fortunately there’s plenty to go around. Meanwhile the pigeon, Sandy Logan, contemplates his unfulfilled ambitions. What if he ruled Hell? All he needs is an army and a plan to spark revolution.

My Hellicorn keeps pestering me to take a trip to the beach with him, my pet demons want a family fun day out, and my demon partner wants to start a war with the local Yakuza clan.... And that’s just before breakfast. As the FPD’s only occult investigator, I deal with a lot more than your average cop, and often that means babysitting a bunch of volatile demons...when I’m not working cases that is. Speaking of which, a pregnant girl has walked into the precinct claiming she has a monster in her belly, put there by a demon-worshiping cult.

Being murdered. Not so great. Waking up in your least-favorite game afterwards...While trying to figure what the whole “sword” thing is all about and which end of it he’s supposed to point at the cuddly, woodland creatures who keep giving him owies, Lucas stumbles across a player who looks rather familiar. Is he the man who murdered him? If he is, why is he in the game, and how can Lucas make him pay for what he did? Worse yet, Lucas’s pretty sure he left the stove and the air on before the whole getting murdered thing. Worst day ever.

Catherine Sloper, the heroine of this tragicomic tale set in mid-19th century New York, is absolutely ordinary in every way except for her exceptional capacities in love and loyalty. These latter qualities are of no interest to her father, the successful society Doctor who is constantly disappointed by his daughter's failure to be brilliant, either physically or intellectually. For this reason, he is highly suspicious when Morris Townsend begins to woo her and is convinced the handsome young man's interest is only in the fortune Catherine will eventually inherit.

The fast and furious hedonistic world of the jet-set commuting between the glamour centres of Europe is the setting for this famous novel by one of the twentieth century’s most remarkable writers. Philip Warren is a personable young American who moves amongst the international demi-gods of wealth and status in search of himself and a future, which will satisfy his part cynical, part romantic outlook.