Short Classics

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button tells the tale of Benjamin, son of Roger Button, who was born as an old man and who, over the course of his life, miraculously ages backward. Beginning life as an octogenarian in his crib, Benjamin grows "older" while his body, conversely, appears younger and younger with each passing birthday. The story takes us through Benjamin's entire life: his difficult adolescence, his marriage, life as a soldier and father, and, ultimately, his inevitable descent into infanthood.

A wonderful anthology of 15 of the great classic Novellas. 1. Immensee by Theodor Storm 2. The Jew's Beech Tree by Annette von Droste-Hülshoff 3. The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad 4. The Withered Arm by Thomas Hardy 5. Mad Monkton by Wilkie Collins 6. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson 7. The Lifted Veil by George Eliot 8. England my England by D. H. Lawrence

Mark Gatiss ( Sherlock, Doctor Who, Game of Thrones) reads chilling tales by the unsung master of the classic ghost story: E. F. Benson. There's nothing sinister about a London bus. Nothing supernatural could occur on a busy train platform. There's nothing terrifying about a little caterpillar. And a telephone, what could be scary about that? Don't be frightened of the dark corners of your room. Don't be alarmed by a sudden inexplicable chill.

"Ligeia" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1838. An unnamed narrator’s beautiful and gifted wife Ligeia, falls ill and dies. After her death, the narrator marries Lady Rowena Trevanion, to whom the same thing happens. As the grief-stricken narrator keeps vigil overnight, he sees Rowena showing signs of life, in a sequence of violent revivals and relapses. When the shrouded Rowena gets up, he recognizes Ligeia, his strange and brilliant first wife. There is, however, a possibility that the narrator experienced a hallucination induced by opium.

Alison Larkin Presents is delighted to publish these selected New York short stories by Edith Wharton, whose inside knowledge of New York's upper class is put to sparkling use here.

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born on 24th September 1896 in Saint Paul, Minnesota into an upper-middle class family. His classic "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" carefully pulls apart the relationship between two cousins one hot summer. Something has to give and with Fitzgerald its an absolute certainty that the brittle lives of young women finally snap in unique ways.

Edgar Allan Poe fue un gran escritor romántico y precursor de simbolismos, decadentistas y estilistas, fue, al tiempo que un gran poeta, un verdadero iniciador. Aún hoy géneros literarios tan consagrados como la narrativa fantástica y de ciencia ficción, la narrativa policial o la novela de aventuras llevan su impronta inconfundible. Fascinado por la muerte y por todas las formas del terror, dio lo mejor de su talento en sus cuentos de misterio, manifestando además un vibrante interés por lo ridículo y absurdo.

Author, poet, screenwriter, and outstanding member of the legendary Algonquin Round Table, Dorothy Parker was known for her quick wit, keen observations, and remarkable insight into the human condition. Regarded as brilliant, but known to be an alcoholic and often depressed, Parker’s work pushes all buttons at once: humor, anger, love, pity, and everything in between...she pulled no punches, writing with pure, unadulterated passion; her work is timeless and as pertinent to today’s society as it was to that of the time she wrote.

1945: Russian troops have entered Berlin, and are engaged in a violent orgy of robbery, rape, and revenge! Wehrmacht officer Hasso Pemsel, a career soldier on the losing end of the greatest war in history, flees from a sniper's bullet, finding himself hurled into a mysterious, fantastic world of wizards, dragons, and unicorns!

Personnage souvent insupportable : ambitieuse, égoïste, avare, capricieuse, Colette nous est pourtant étrangement proche et familière. Toute sa vie, en quête d'amour, souvent déçue, elle se retourne sans cesse vers son enfance pour retrouver celle dont elle n'a jamais réussi à se détacher, sa mère, Sido. Son génie réside dans une vision simple de la vie. A travers l'observation des êtres humaines, des animaux et des plantes, elle réalise ce miracle de parler un langage qui trouve un écho en chacun de nous. Elle possède en particulier l'art subtil de faire parler les animaux, notamment les chats, sans jamais leur prêter des sentiments humains. On a dit qu'elle était un des rares écrivains "à pouvoir être lu par les filles dans un bordel et les gens de goût extrêmement cultivés".

Best Classic Short Stories for Children brings together some of the most well-known and beloved stories by authors like O. Henry, Oscar Wilde, and Saki and extracts from children's classics such as The Railway Children and Little Women. With a mix of genres including science fiction, mystery, and ghost stories, and a host of popular characters such as Oliver Twist, Sherlock Holmes, Jane Eyre, and Dracula, this is the perfect introduction to a range of classic literature.

"Chekhov is probably better known in Britain for his plays than for his prose. For many, however, it is his short stories that mark the high water of his genius. It might at first glance be hard for those not used to his style of narrative to see what the fuss is about - and fuss there is: for most authors and lovers of literature Chekhov is incomparably the greatest short story writer there ever was."

"Paul's Case" was first published in 1905 in Cather's first collection of short stories, titled The Troll Garden. Similar to "The Enchanted Forest" featured in her Nine Stories published by Simply, it is one of the great writer's stories accessible to most young people in high school and college. It relates to what they feel, think, and want to be. Perhaps just as importantly, it depicts young people upset by their current circumstances, their families, and the drabness they perceive in their own lives.

Author Peter Ackroyd has won the Somerset Maugham Award, the Whitbread Novel of the Year, and the Guardian Fiction Prize, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Based on Geoffrey Chaucer’s immortal work, this retelling of The Canterbury Tales follows a party of travelers as they tell stories amongst themselves about love and chivalry, saints and legends, travel and adventure. Through allegory, satire, and humor, the tales help pass the time during their journey.

The master storyteller amuses and entertains with a collection of stories which includes: "The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg", "The Double Barrelled Detective Story", "The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", "The Million Dollar Bank Note", "Benton and Mills", "A Tale", "Cannibalism in the Cars", "The Stolen White Elephant", "The Man Who Put Up at Gadsby's", "The Good Little Boy", "The Bad Little Boy", and "Baker's Blue Jay Yarn".

"Пиковая дама" - повесть Александра Сергеевича Пушкина, жанр русская классика. Сюжет повести обыгрывает излюбленную Пушкиным тему непредсказуемой судьбы, фортуны, рока.

In Agatha Christie’s short story, “The Lemesurier Inheritance,” Poirot and Hastings are asked to keep an eye on the heir of a Northumberland estate. The house, thought to be cursed since the middle ages, is the locale of several recent near-death accidents for a young boy and rumors of the curse increase. But is it possible the accidents are man-made? This short story originally appeared in the December 19, 1923 issue of The Sketch magazine.

From the number one best-selling author of The American Boy and The Ashes of London comes a collection of three Gothic novellas - Broken Voices, The Leper House and The Scratch - perfect for fans of The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley.

Based on Japanese literature and foldlore, Kwaidan contains 17 stories. The story of Loichi, the blind biwa player who was called to perform for the dead; of Muso, the journeying priest who encountered a man eating goblin; of the samurai who outwitted the ghost of a dead man. All these plus 14 other spooly tales are included in this collection.

Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales is an audiobook benefiting children orphaned and impacted by HIV/AIDS in South Africa, featuring Gillian Anderson, Benjamin Bratt, LeVar Burton, Ricardo Chavira, Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, Whoopi Goldberg, Sean Hayes, Hugh Jackman, Samuel L. Jackson, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Scarlett Johansson,

Debra Messing, Helen Mirren, Parminder Nagra, Sophie Okonedo, CCH Pounder, Alan Rickman, Jurnee Smollett, Charlize Theron, and Blair Underwood.