Review:I really enjoy complete collections of a single author. Reading the good and the less-good, I get a sense of the writer's mind, as well as his voice and style. Mark Twain is the clear-eyed, sad-eyed self-invented man who hates fraud with a passion and is determined not to be cheated or deluded. I know of no other writer in English, except Swift, with such a low opinion of his fellow creatures.

However, the father of every cynic is a disappointed innocent. Twain grew up in a stern Pres... Read more

Review:This volume is a wonderful continuation to the series and was a joy to read and get caught up on all the other characters in the family. I've loved everything I've read so far and I am a fan. This is a great read and very enjoyable. Thank you. Read more

Review:Classic civil war battle novel. The language is fairly poetic and written after the civil war, but I thought it brought the war to life. It tells a story about a man's personal journey as a soldier in the civil war. It's his fears, his passions, his courage, selfishness, and all from one man's viewpoint. Read more

Review:If you have not read Lovecraft before then it may be hard to get into the language. No one speaks in the manner of the narrators of his stories or books anymore and sometimes, that's a shame. Sometimes, though, the flowery language hinders the stories and makes what should be a scary descent into madness a tedious grind through language. Overall, though, Lovecraft is an important literary figure and pretty much created the super weird dear god I can't fathom what that thing was that went bump... Read more

Review:This book contained some fascinating insights into the art of writing fiction, but frankly, I thought it was written very poorly(!). I did not flow at all and read much like some of the worst textbooks I've seen. He obviously has read a wide variety of books, but he assumes the reader is familiar with them.
I think this may be a good book for English majors or experienced writers, but not for young writers. For us young and inexperienced writers, he talks above our heads.
Even the s... Read more

Review:There are works of fiction that change the way you look at life, and then there is the work of Jorge Luis Borges, which just might alter the way you look at everything, including yourself. The best way to explain Jorge Luis Borges is to compare him to painters - if you combined Picasso, Dali and Escher's imaginations into a writer, you would have Borges. His visions of doppelgangers, puzzles, labyrinths, infinite libraries and Argentine Gauchos are on a level of reality different from any other ... Read more

Review:i rarely write reviews, but being that i seek them out to decide on my book choices i wanted to share.

i was looking for an engaging, page turner. one in which the characters and story stay with you after you put the book down. that's all i wanted out of my next book. but lately, it seems, that's alot to ask..

in my opinion nick flynn truly captured the unique struggle an adult child has towards a destructive, self centered, a-hole of a parent..it's a complex scenario he captured v... Read more

Review:tHIS IS mILTON'S CONTINUATION OF pARADISE lOST. pARADISE IS REGAINED UPON cHRIST'S ENTRANCE ON THE EARTH. iT BEGINS WITH cHRIST;S BAPTISM wHERE sATAN IS PRESENT AND WHO FOLLOWS cHRIST INTO THE DESERT AND TEMPTS HIM TO SHOW HIS POWER BY TURNING THE STONES INTO BREAD. i USED IT IN CONNECTION WITH THE SEASON OF LENT AND THE FORTY DAYS Christ fasted in the desert. Read more

Review:This book is very teachable and interesting to read. I was able to use this as a fulcrum text for our coming off age unit for sophomores in high schoolvery successfully. It was an easy read and very engaging. Read more

Review:A lot of veiled homoerotic imagery, much of which today would be considered borderline pedophilia. Bogged down by repetitive illusions to the Greek ideals of beauty. Not on narrative par with Buddenbrooks or The Magic Mountain. Best suited for those who wish to say they've read all of Thomas Mann's work. Read more