An invaluable guide for both casual opera fans and aficionados, 100 Great Operas is perhaps the most comprehensive and enjoyable volume of opera stories ever written.

From La Traviata to Aïda, from Carmen to Don Giovanni, here are the plots of the world’s best-loved operas, told in an engaging, picturesque, and readable manner. Written by noted opera authority Henry W. Simon, this distinctive reference book contains act-by-act descriptions of 100 operatic works ranging from the historic early seventeenth century masterpieces of Monteverdi to the modern classics of Gian-Carlo Menotti.

In addition to highlighting the most important aspects of each opera, the author discusses the main characters, the famous turnings of plot, and the most significant arias. Here, too, is a wealth of anecdotes concerning literary background, past performances and stars, and production problems of the great operas.

Arthur C. Clark, creator of one of the world's best-loved science fiction tales, revisits the most famous future ever imagined in this NEW YORK TIMES bestseller, as two expeditions into space become inextricably tangled. Heywood Floyd, survivor of two previous encounters with the mysterious monloiths, must again confront Dave Bowman, HAL, and an alien race that has decided that Mankind is to play a part in the evolution of the galaxy whether it wishes to or not.

It began four million years ago when a gleaming black monolith cast its shadow on the stark African savanna *an inexplicable apparition that ignited the spark of human consciousness, transforming ape into man.

It continued at the dawn of the 21st century when an identical black monolith was excavated on the moon *propelling Dave Bowman and his deputy Frank Poole on a mission to Jupiter that ended in the mutiny of the supercomputer HAL. 

Only Dave Bowman would survive to encounter a third, and far more massive monolith on Jupiter's moon Europa *and be forever transformed into the star child.

It is the world of 2001: A Space Odyssey. And now, the odyssey enters its perilous ultimate stage. In 3001, the human race, incredibly, has survived, yet lives in baffled fear of the trio of monoliths that dominate the solar system--until a ray of light beams forth from a totally unexpected source. The body of Frank Poole, believed dead for a thousand years, is recovered from the frozen reaches of the galaxy, restored to conscious life, and readied to resume the voyage that HAL abruptly terminated a thousand years back. He knows he cannot proceed until he reestablishes contact with Dave Bowman. But first he must fathom the terrifying truth of what Bowman *and HAL *have become inside the monolith.

In 3001: The Final Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke brings the greatest and most successful science fiction series of all time to its magnificent, stunningly unforeseen conclusion. As we hurtle toward the new millennium in real time, Clarke brilliantly, daringly leaps one thousand years into the future to reveal a truth we are only now capable of comprehending. An epic masterpiece at once dazzlingly imaginative and grounded in scientific actuality, 3001 is a story that only Arthur C. Clarke could tell.

A new collection of ready-to-use ideas in the highly popular 52 Ways series that offers 52 specific ways to overcome low self-esteem, rebuild confidence, and fully understand the cause and cure for feelings of rejection and unworthiness. Particularly helpful for counselors, therapists, and support groups looking for solid, concise confidence-building advice.

6 Months to 6 Figures

The long overdue ”6 Months to 6 Figures” is a breath of fresh air to the Entrepreneurial world, and is here to shift our culture.

No BS, No fluff, No Academic Theories, and No Sugar Coating. Just real world, tactical, hard core strategies from being in the trenches.

Peter Voogd, who’s labeled the leading authority for Gen Y leadership reveals the exact strategies he’s used to go from dead broke to over 6 figures within 6 months in multiple industries. Peter has trained over 4,000 Entrepreneurs and built an 8 million dollar sales organization by age 27.

If you’re one of the select few who are serious about success, this book will change the game for you.Most Entrepreneurs struggle with inconsistent income, low productivity, and don’t have enough time in a day to get everything they want done? Peter shows you the fastest and most effective ways to maximize your income, get bigger things done in less time, and helps you create your ideal lifestyle.

We assure you this is only book you’ll ever need to thrive as an Entrepreneur. It will help you create a quantum change in the results you enjoy in your personal and professional life. As I’m sure you are aware and have experienced, most people just talk about success, wish they had success, but never take the necessary action consistently to achieve it. They spend year after year just trying to get by vs. designing a compelling future. We want to bring you off the sidelines and into the game. We want you to enjoy higher levels of fulfillment, more passion and energy, and results very few attain. It’s time to stop surviving, and start thriving.

Susanna desperately wants to join the circle of girls who meet every week at the parsonage. What she doesn't realize is that the girls are about to set off a torrent of false accusations leading to the imprisonment and execution of countless innocent people. Susanna faces a painful choice. Should she keep quiet and let the witch-hunt panic continue, or should she "break charity" with the group--and risk having her own family members named as witches?

Reader's guide included.

From the bestselling author of Jurassic Park and Rising Sun, this national bestseller combines breathtaking suspense with a penetrating examination of America's medical establishment. When a woman bleeds to death on the operating table, her physician is accused of murder--and another physician searches for the horrible truth.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael Crichton was a writer and filmmaker, best known as the author of Jurassic Park and the creator of ER. One of the most popular entertainers in the world, Crichton sold more than 200 million copies of his books, which have been translated into 40 languages and adapted into 15 films. Long before the carefully researched techno-thrillers that ultimately brought him to fame, Crichton wrote high-octane suspense novels to support himself while studying at Harvard Medical School. A Case of Need, written under the pseudonym Jeffery Hudson, won the Edgar Award for Best Mystery in 1969.

A woman, a transplant... and the soul of a young man who in death gave her life.

After a heart and lung transplant operation, dancer Claire Sylvia discovered that new organs were not the only thing she inherited. Never having liked such foods as beer and chicken nuggets, she suddenly started craving them. After an extraordinary dream, she seeks out the family of her donor -- a teenaged boy who died in a motorcycle accident -- and learns that it is indeed possible for two souls to merge in one body.

"This is a story that must be told and heard...a fascinating example of how cellular memory can outlive physical death". -- Deepak Chopra, M.D.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

“Bah!” said Scrooge. “Humbug!” 

With those famous words unfolds a tale that renews the joy and caring that are Christmas. Whether we read it aloud with our family and friends or open the pages on a chill winter evening to savor the story in solitude, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is a very special holiday experience. 

It is the one book that every year will warm our hearts with favorite memories of Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit, and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future—and will remind us with laughter and tears that the true Christmas spirit comes from giving with love.

Acclaimed in five prior editions, this text covers all of the standard topics for any introductory logic course in neatly-packaged capsules of learning. Known for its concise, direct style emphasizing clarity, Hurley avoids the peculiar quirks, technicalities, and wordiness of other texts. The material is integrated in such a way that elements fit together as in a puzzle so students can assemble a broad picture of the subject. Visual aids and color are used to reinforce key points and concepts. Additionally, key terms are boldfaced, hundreds of examples serve to illustrate ideas, and more than 2000 carefully selected exercises sharpen student understanding and skill. The adept presentation of the subject matter leads to mastery, even by students with poorer academic preparation.

Patrick Hurley was born in Spokane, Washington in 1942. He received his bachelor's degree in mathematics (with a Physics minor) from Gonzaga University in 1964 and his Ph.D. in philosophy of science with an emphasis in history of philosophy from Saint Louis University in 1973. In 1972 he began teaching at the University of San Diego, where his courses have included logic, philosophy of science, metaphysics, process philosophy, and legal ethics. In 1987 he received his J.D. from the University of San Diego and he is currently a member of the California Bar Association. He retired from teaching in 2008, but continues his research and writing. His interests include music, art, opera, environmental issues, fishing, and skiing.

A Confederacy of Dunces is an American comic masterpiece. John Kennedy Toole's hero, one Ignatius J. Reilly, is "huge, obese, fractious, fastidious, a latter-day Gargantua, a Don Quixote of the French Quarter. His story bursts with wholly original characters, denizens of New Orleans' lower depths, incredibly true-to-life dialogue, and the zaniest series of high and low comic adventures" (Henry Kisor, Chicago Sun-Times).

From Library Journal

This story about a young man's isolation still rings true at a time when millions interact more with computers than with other people.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This textbook for advanced courses in group theory focuses on finite groups, with emphasis on the idea of group actions. Early chapters summarize presupposed facts, identify important themes, and establish the notation used throughout the book. Subsequent chapters explore the normal and arithmetical structures of groups as well as applications.

Topics include the normal structure of groups: subgroups; homomorphisms and quotients; series; direct products and the structure of finitely generated Abelian groups; and group action on groups. Additional subjects range from the arithmetical structure of groups to classical notions of transfer and splitting by means of group action arguments. More than 675 exercises, many accompanied by hints, illustrate and extend the material.

Delivering three distinct and powerful visions of characters who choose to defy convention in the pursuit of happiness, Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House and Other Plays is translated with an introduction by Peter Watts in Penguin Classics.

The League of Youth was Ibsen's first venture into realistic social drama and marks a turning-point in his style. By 1879 Ibsen was convinced that women suffer an inevitable violation of their personalities within the context of marriage. In A Doll's House, Ibsen caused a sensation with the his portrayal of Nora Helmer, a woman who, gradually arriving at an understanding of her own misery, struggles to break free from the stifling confines of her marriage. Continuing the theme of tensions within the family in The Lady from the Sea, Ibsen put forward the view that freedom with responsibility might at least be a step in the right direction. Peter Watts's lively modern translation is accompanied by an introduction examining Ibsen's life and times, with individual discussions of each of the three plays. 

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

An emotional, dramatic and philosophical novel about Americans drawn into a small Central American country on the brink of revolution.

Wake up! It's time to start your day with the amazing ladies from Women of Faith. Or hey, if you're a night owl there's no better way to finish your day. Either way, you now have a dose of love and wisdom for every day of the year.

These women, as lighthearted as they are firmly rooted in Scripture, want to talk to you daily, give you insight from their lives, and empower you to live your life more fully. So dive in and get your daily dose . . . it'll do you good.

Writers include Patsy Clairmont, Marilyn Meberg, and more.

The Washington Post bestselling serial-killer thriller that will leave you wondering, is the past really in the past?

Three Chicago women have been found strangled, embalmed, and posed as if still alive. Doubting the findings of the local PD’s profiler, The FBI calls on forensic psychologist Zoe Bentley to investigate.

Zoe quickly gets off on the wrong foot with her new partner, Special Agent Tatum Gray. Zoe’s a hunter, intense and focused; Tatum’s a smug maverick with little respect for the rules. Together, they must descend into a serial killer’s psyche and untangle his twisted fantasies, or more women will die. But when the contents of three inconspicuous envelopes reveal a chilling connection to gruesome murders from Zoe’s childhood, suddenly the hunter becomes the hunted.

The daughter of a wealthy railway magnate, Paula Power inherits De Stancy Castle, an ancient castle in need of modernization. She commissions George Somerset, a young architect, to undertake the work. Somerset falls in love with Paula but she, the Laodicean of the title, is torn between his admiration and that of Captain De Stancy, whose old-world romanticism contrasts with Somerset's forward-looking attitude. Paula's vacillation, however, is not only romantic. Her ambiguity regarding religion, politics and social progress is a reflection of the author's own. This new Penguin Classics edition of Hardy's text contains an introduction and notes that illuminate and clarify these themes, and draws parallels between the text and the author's life and views.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Thomas Hardy, was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, especially William Wordsworth. Charles Dickens was another important influence. Like Dickens, he was highly critical of much in Victorian society, though Hardy focused more on a declining rural society.

While Hardy wrote poetry throughout his life and regarded himself primarily as a poet, his first collection was not published until 1898. Initially, therefore, he gained fame as the author of novels, including Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891), and Jude the Obscure (1895). Hardy's poetry, though prolific, was not as well received during his lifetime. It was rediscovered in the 1950s, when Hardy's poetry had a significant influence on the Movement poets of the 1950s and 1960s, including Philip Larkin.

Most of his fictional works – initially published as serials in magazines – were set in the semi-fictional region of Wessex. They explored tragic characters struggling against their passions and social circumstances. Hardy's Wessex is based on the medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom and eventually came to include the counties of Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon, Hampshire and much of Berkshire, in southwest and south central England.
Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Moriah’s heart will only be safe with a man of his word.

In just a few short months, Moriah Miller’s perfect life unravels. Newly wed and newly pregnant, Moriah is abandoned by her husband, Levi. He’s left her, his family, and their faith without a backward glance. The community, stunned, rushes to the young woman’s aid.

But there is someone who feels more than just sympathy for Moriah. Gabriel Miller—Levi’s twin—longs for an intimate commitment that might someday bind them to one another. Convinced of the impossibility of his dream, Gabriel settles for a mere friendship with the woman he loves.

Moriah bravely goes on with her life, adjusting to her new role in their tight-knit Amish community and preparing for the birth of her child. She is unaware that her brief marriage—once idealized as the happiest time of her life—may have been merely a shadow of the kind of love God has created for her. A love that can mend the soul, renew her heart, and give her a future filled with hope . . . if she’ll only let it.

“The most lacerating tale of drug addiction since William S. Burroughs’ Junky.” —The Boston Globe

“Again and again, the book delivers recollections that leave the reader winded and unsteady. James Frey’s staggering recovery memoir could well be seen as the final word on the topic.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“A brutal, beautifully written memoir.”—The Denver Post

“Gripping . . . A great story . . . You can’t help but cheer his victory.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review

“A wake-up call for the entire planet . . . [A New Earth] helps us to stop creating our own suffering and obsessing over the past and what the future might be, and to put ourselves in the now.” —Oprah Winfrey

With his bestselling spiritual guide The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle inspired millions of readers to discover the freedom and joy of a life lived “in the now.” In A New Earth, Tolle expands on these powerful ideas to show how transcending our ego-based state of consciousness is not only essential to personal happiness, but also the key to ending conflict and suffering throughout the world. Tolle describes how our attachment to the ego creates the dysfunction that leads to anger, jealousy, and unhappiness, and shows readers how to awaken to a new state of consciousness and follow the path to a truly fulfilling existence.

Illuminating, enlightening, and uplifting, A New Earth is a profoundly spiritual manifesto for a better way of life—and for building a better world.

Among the greatest novels of the twentieth century and the basis for director David Lean’s Academy Award-winning film, A Passage to India tells of the clash of cultures in British India after the turn of the century. In exquisite prose, Forster reveals the menace that lurks just beneath the surface of ordinary life, as a common misunderstanding erupts into a devastating affair.

The Middle East has long been a region of rival religions, ideologies, nationalisms, and ambitions. All of these conflicts―including the hostilities between Arabs and Israelis, and the violent challenges posed by Iraq's competing sects―are rooted in the region's political inheritance: the arrangements, unities, and divisions imposed by the Allies after the First World War.

In A Peace to End All Peace, David Fromkin reveals how and why the Allies drew lines on an empty map that remade the geography and politics of the Middle East. Focusing on the formative years of 1914 to 1922, when all seemed possible, he delivers in this sweeping and magisterial book the definitive account of this defining time, showing how the choices narrowed and the Middle East began along a road that led to the conflicts and confusion that continue to this day.

This is a used mass market paperback book in fair to good condition, a good reading copy.

This is a used, mass market paperback book in good or better condition. More information to come soon.

This is a used, mass market paperback book in good or better condition. More information to come soon.

This edition offers Hansberry's complete uncut screen adaptation of her play, containing at least forty percent new material that does not appear in the play.

From Library Journal

The film version of Hansberry's landmark play A Raisin in the Sun (1961) was the first depiction of African American life seen by mainstream America. Hansberry included in her screen version several scenes of the Younger family interacting with the white world to show their deprivation and the subtle forms of racism they encountered in their everyday lives. In typical Hollywood fashion most of those scenes were cut, which softened the drama's angry voice. This new edition of the uncut original was edited by Hansberry's ex-husband and literary executor Nemiroff, who made a lifelong commitment to seeing that Hansberry's talent was fully recognized. African American collections as well as film collections will find this script of interest.
- Marcia L. Perry, Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield, Mass.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“A beautiful, lovable play. It is affectionately human, funny and touching. . . . A work of theatrical magic in which the usual barrier between audience and stage disappears.”
John Chapman, New York News

“An honest, intelligible, and moving experience.”
Walter Kerr, New York Herald Tribune

“Miss Hansberry has etched her characters with understanding, and told her story with dramatic impact. She has a keen sense of humor, an ear for accurate speech and compassion for people.”
Robert Coleman, New York Mirror

“A Raisin in the Sun has vigor as well as veracity.”
Brooks Atkinson, New York Times

“It is honest drama, catching up real people. . . . It will make you proud of human beings.”
Frank Aston, New York World-Telegram & Sun

"In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly flishing..."

Two novellas and one short story, based on the author's own experiences, center on a young man's discovery of life and art in the woods of western Montana.

This is a used, mass market paperback book in good or better condition. More information to come soon.

The Tiger's Cave & Translations of Other Zen Writings

What happens when a young Zen monk makes a terrible mistake at a public ceremony? What sort of reception does a well-known abbot get today when he visits his old teacher? The answers to these questions can be found in this fascinating translation of Japanese Zen texts by Trevor Leggett. From historical incidents to classes Zen commentaries, this is an account of actual Zen life, the life of traditional temple training, and a valuable guide to the meaning of Zen in Japan.

Jakkin and his girlfriend, Akki, discover a primitive cult that sacrifices dragons. 

“A riveting saga . . . superb storytelling.”--Publishers Weekly

'Love is nothing without feeling. And feeling is still less without love.'

Celebrated in its own day as the progenitor of 'a school of sentimental writers', A Sentimental Journey (1768) has outlasted its many imitators because of the humour and mischievous eroticism that inform Mr Yorick's travels. Setting out to journey to France and Italy he gets little further than Lyons but finds much to appreciate, in contrast to contemporary travel writers whom Sterne satirizes in the figures of Smelfungus and Mundungus. A master of ambiguity and double entendre, Sterne is nevertheless as concerned as his peers with exploring the nature of virtue; unlike other writers of sentimental fiction Sterne insists on the inseparability of desire and feeling.

This new edition includes a selection from The Sermons of Mr Yorick, which shed light on the concerns of the Journey, The Journal to Eliza, which records Sterne's feelings as he languishes for the company of Eliza Draper, and A Political Romance, the satire on a local ecclesiastical squabble that was the catalyst for Sterne's literary career.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Gene was a lonely, introverted intellectual.  Phineas was a handsome, taunting, daredevil athlete.  What happened between them at school one summer  during the early years of World War II is the  subject of A Separate Peace. A  great bestseller for over thirty years--one of the  most starkly moving parables ever written of the  dark forces that brood over the tortured world of  adolescence.

"I think it is the  best-written, best-designed and most moving novel I  have read in many years. Beginning with a tiny  incident among ordinary boys, it ends by being as  deep and as big as evil itself." -- Aubrey  Menen

"A quietly vital and cleanly  written novel that moves, page by page, towards a  most interesting target." -- Truman  Capote

"Is he the successor to Salinger for  whom we have been waiting so long? --  Encounter.

"A masterpiece."  -- National Review.