Humor Classics

Tom Jones is a splendid Hogarthian panorama of 18th-century English life and morals, encompassing both city and country, and comprising some of the greatest comic characters in British literature. First published in 1749, it was an instant success and has gone on to become a classic of its genre. Quite simply, there has never been anything like it.

Ein Nordamerikaner entdeckt das alte Europa! 1878 unternahm Mark Twain eine Reise durch Europa, die ihn nach Deutschland, in die Schweiz, nach Frankreich und Italien führte...

Una narrazione disincantata e ironica denuncia il vuoto di valori che seguì la disfatta napoleonica. La cittadella descritta da Stendhal è in realtà molto diversa dalla vera cittadella di Parma e, invece, molto simile a Castel Sant'Angelo, dalla cui cella fuggì (calandosi con delle corde), nel Cinquecento, Alessandro Farnese, rinchiuso per aver rapito e sedotto una nobildonna romana. In seguito diviene cardinale e, poi, papa.

Henry Fielding è considerato uno dei padri fondatori del romanzo realista inglese. Tale scopo sarà pienamente raggiunto da Fielding nel suo capolavoro, Tom Jones (1749), uno dei più grandi romanzi della letteratura inglese. La storia narra le divertenti disavventure e peregrinazioni del giovane Tom Jones e della sua amata Sophia Western unendo a una trama sapiente e a pagine di garbata satira personaggi di grande efficacia e presenza, per fornire uno spaccato della società inglese dell'epoca. Cornice musicale di Georg Friedrich Haendel.

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.

Oliver Twist fu il secondo romanzo di Dickens, pubblicato a puntate mensili dal 1837 al 1839. E' una delle opere più famose dello scrittore, primo romanzo inglese ad avere un ragazzo come protagonista e uno dei primi romanzi sociali. L'umorismo feroce con cui Dickens descrive la società inglese, la povertà, l'abuso infantile, l'ipocrisia della cultura fu decisamente una novità.

Candido è in grande difficoltà. Afflitto da una serie infinita di tragiche sfortune, riesce comunque a tenere la testa alta, rimanendo caparbiamente aggrappato alla promessa del filosofo Leibniz per la quale il mondo in cui viviamo è il migliore dei mondi possibili. "Candido", la celebre e pungente satira di Voltaire del 1959, ha un ritmo frenetico, è caustico e fa sbellicare dalle risate, ma al contempo contiene un'esplorazione magistrale della filosofia, della religione, del pregiudizio e della crudeltà del cieco ottimismo.

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.

"Il fu Mattia Pascal", il romanzo più famoso e amato di Pirandello, scritto nel 1903, ruota attorno al tema dell'individualità e dell'introspezione. Il bibliotecario Mattia Pascal fugge da un matrimonio infelice a Montecarlo, dove riesce a vincere una discreta somma. Tornando a casa scopre dal giornale di essere morto. Subito si inventa un'altra identità, convinto di poter cambiare vita, ma inesorabilmente si ritroverà prigioniero delle convenzioni e delle regole cui ha tentato di sottrarsi.

If Asher Hearst had a superpower, it would have to be his ability to take a punch, laugh it off, and keep on swinging. So yeah, immortality comes with a few perks. As a college student slash small-time fixer, he's about to take a job that's best left to the pros. A proposition by a dryad to save witches from the Inquisition is a first, but he isn't one to balk when the odds are stacked against him. Especially not while he's drinking on someone else's dime.

L'azione, in questo terzo tomo, si svolge nel 1832. Il giardiniere papà Fauchelant è morto, Cosette ha 17 anni e lascia il convento...

After being attacked by a serial killer, being saved by Loki - so-called god of mischief, lies, and chaos - being dragged to Alfheim, losing every cent in her bank account, and caring for her grandmother, Amy Lewis has lost her scholarship to veterinary school. But it's all right. She has a plan. If she manages to keep her day job as a receptionist and her night job as a vet tech, she may be able to get her scholarship reinstated and save enough money for the dreaded "miscellaneous fees". Too bad her day boss is unbearable....

The classic international sensation is back! Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and its sequel But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes are Anita Loos' witty comedies of manners, following the misadventures of Lorelei Lee, a charmingly naïve blonde who turns male admiration into jewels, and her clever brunette friend, Dorothy Shaw.

O. Henry wove several stories together into this highly episodic narrative, taking his title and inspiration from Lewis Carroll's ballad of the walrus and the carpenter in Through the Looking-Glass. The stories are set in the fictional country of Anchuria in Central America, a banana republic where larceny is rampant and revolution lurking in every impoverished back alley. O. Henry offers a cutting satire of contemporary politics and prejudices.

A couple of jerks wake me up at the crack of noon. Seems my klepto uncle stole an ancient deck of Tarot cards from a high-powered wizard, and too many losers want to ruin my day to get them back. The cards are cool, so I check them out, but my magic-happy cousin, Sabrina, tells me I'm not supposed to touch them. Oops. Too late. Now the damn cards are tuned to me, and if someone else wants to use them, I have to die. Why couldn't she have led with that information?

George and Weedon Grossmith were born in London into a theatrical family, and it was natural that they should both take up careers on the stage. Weedon initially studied art but later joined his brother, George, in the theatre.

You Know Me, Al is a classic of baseball, the game and the community. Jack Keefe, one of literature's great characters, is talented, brash, and conceited. Self-assured and imperceptive, impervious to both advice and sarcasm, Keefe rises to the heights, but his inability to learn makes for his undoing. Through a series of letters from this bush-league pitcher to his not-quite-anonymous friend Al, Lardner maintains a balance between the funny and the moving, the pathetic and the glorious.

Gogol's great comic masterpiece paints an hilariously satirical picture of provincial life in 19th century Russia. Its publication in 1847 not only provided inspiration for succeeding generations of Russian writers, but fanned the already flickering flames of social discontent which were eventually to flare up and consume Russia in the revolution of 1917.

Wer Karl Kraus im Literaturbetrieb des frühen 20. Jahrhunderts kannte, verehrte oder verabscheute ihn - Gleichgültigkeit löste er jedenfalls nicht aus. Mit nur 25 Jahren gründete Kraus in Wien die Zeitschrift Die Fackel, mit der 1899 seine steile Karriere als Journalist und Kritiker, Dramatiker und Satiriker begann. Bis zu seinem Tod im Jahr 1936 galt er als scharfzüngigster Beobachter des kulturellen und politischen Zeitgeschehens. Seine Worte richteten sich gegen die Verlotterung der Sprache, gegen Phrasendrescher und Kriegstreiber, gegen Korruption und Heuchelei.

Emma, by Jane Austen, is a novel about youthful hubris and the perils of misconstrued romance. Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in Georgian-Regency England; she also creates a lively comedy of manners among her characters and depicts issues of marriage, gender, age, and social status.