«American writing, before and after Dreiser's time, differed almost as much as biology before and after Darwin», said H.L. Mencken. Sister Carrie, Dreiser's great first novel, transformed the conventional «fallen woman» story into a bold and truly innovative piece of fiction when it appeared in 1900. Naive young Caroline Meeber, a small-town girl seduced by the lure of the modern city, becomes the mistress of a traveling salesman and then of a saloon manager, who elopes with her to New York. Both its subject matter and Dreiser's unsparing, nonjudgmental approach made Sister Carrie a controversial book in its time, and the work retains the power to shock readers today. «Sister Carrie came to housebound and airless America like a great free Western wind, and to our stuffy domesticity gave us the first fresh air since Mark Twain and Whitman», noted Sinclair Lewis. «Dreiser enlarged, willy-nilly, by a kind of historical accident if The Modern Library has played a significant role in American cultural life for the better part of a century. The series was founded in 1917 by the publishers Boni and Liveright and eight years later acquired by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer. It provided the foundation for their next publishing venture, Random House. The Modern Library has been a staple of the American book trade, providing readers with affordable hardbound editions of important works of literature and thought. For the Modern Library's seventy-fifth anniversary, Random House redesigned the series, restoring as its emblem the running torch-bearer created by Lucian Bernhard in 1925 and refurbishing jackets, bindings, and type, as well as inaugurating a new program of selecting titles. The Modern Library continues to provide the world's best books, at the best prices. «From the Hardcover edition.»

A man. A woman. The heat of an Iowa summer. And the brief encounter whose passion will last a lifetime

«Haunting, harrowing, and downright horrifying, this classic collection from the modern master of the fantastic features: «The Small Assassin»: a fine, healthy baby boy was the new mother's dream come true — or her nightmare... «The Emissary»: the faithful dog was the sick boy's only connectioin with the world outside — and beyond... «The Wonderful Death Of Dudley Stone»: a most remarkable case of murder — the deceased was delighted! And more!»

«Poor Bertie is in the soup again, and throughout this latest omnibus it is only Jeeves who keeps him from being the fish and the main course as well. In these delightful pages you will encounter all the stalwarts who have made the Jeeves novels and stories the pinnacle of English humour, from Aunts Agatha and Dahlia to Roderick Spode, Tuppy Glossop, Madeline Bassett, Oofy Prosser and Anatole the Chef. At the end even Augustus the cat has come to be much obliged to Jeeves. This volume contains «Much Obliged, Jeeves», «Aunts Aren’t Gentlemen» and the short stories ‘Extricating Young Gussie’, ‘Jeeves Makes An Omelette’ and ‘Jeeves and the Greasy Bird’.»

«This dazzling collection of stories follows the individual adventures of a varied cast of characters and masterfully illustrates Calvino's unique perspective and narrative gifts. As well as the eleven tales from his «Difficult Loves» collection this volume also includes «Smog» and «A Plunge into Real Estate».»

«A millennium into the future two advancements have altered the course of human history: the colonization of the galaxy and the creation of the positronic brain. Isaac Asimov's Robot novels chronicle the unlikely partnership between a New York City detective and a humanoid robot who must learn to work together. Like most people left behind on an over-populated Earth, New York City police detective Elijah Baley had little love for either the arrogant Spacers or their robotic companions. But when a prominent Spacer is murdered under mysterious circumstances, Baley is ordered to the Outer Worlds to help track down the killer. The relationship between Life and his Spacer superiors, who distrusted all Earthmen, was strained from the start. Then he learned that they had assigned him a partner: R. Daneel Olivaw. Worst of all was that the «R» stood for robot — and his positronic partner was made in the image and likeness of the murder victim!»

«Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank's remarkable diary has since become a world classic — a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit. In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the «Secret Annex» of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and amusing, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short.»

«From the author of «Outlander»... a magnificent epic that once again sweeps us back in time to the drama and passion of 18th-century Scotland... For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to Scotland's majestic mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones ...about a love that transcends the boundaries of time ...and about James Fraser, a Scottish warrior whose gallantry once drew a young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his .... Now a legacy of blood and desire will test her beautiful copper-haired daughter, Brianna, as Claire's spellbinding journey of self-discovery continues in the intrigue-ridden Paris court of Charles Stuart ...in a race to thwart a doomed Highlands uprising ...and in a desperate fight to save both the child and the man she loves....»

Told with all of Susan Howatch's drama, intelligence, and emotional depth, Mystical Paths is a breathtaking novel about the powerful, often painful, but finally indestructible ties between parent and child. And like its four highly praised predecessors in the Church of England series, this novel celebrates the redeeming power of self-knowledge and faith.

From the author of the extraordinary Vampire Chronicles comes a huge mesmerizing novel of witchcraft and the occult through four centuries. Two people with special powers are drwan together and set out in a passionate alliance to unlock the mystery of her past and his unwelcome gift. As the strane saga is played out, a world of witches is created that will fascinate readers for years to come.

Lestat, the vampire-hero, enchanter and seducer of mortals, speaks in the new book in the bestselling Vampire Chronicles that began with Interview with the Vampire and continued with The Vampire Lestat and The Queen of the Damned. For centuries Lestat has been a courted prince in the dark universe of the living dead. But now he is alone, and everything he has come to believe in is called into question. Soon he will embark on the most dangerous enterprise he has ever undertaken...

Designed for rapid access, this innovative reference helps the reader find the perfect choice of words to get his/her ideas across with impact and accuracy. Specially created for contemporary writers and speakers, it includes essential definitions and avoids outmoded, useless entries.

After the wedding of Diana Goode and Andrew Douglas, Diana teases that they will make a baby on their honeymoon. But long afterward, she is still not pregnant. As Diana and Andrew wait out each month only to be bitterly disappointed, they are forced to question just how much they are willing to go through to have a baby. Charlie Winwood dreams of a house filled with children. His bride, party-girl actress Barbie Mason, has other ideas. When he discovers he is sterile, Charlie has to rethink his deepest values — and his marriage to a woman who shares none of his dreams. After ten years of living together, Pilar Graham, a prominent Santa Barbara attorney, marries Judge Brad Coleman, who is nineteen years her senior and father of two grown children. They are happy with their comfortable life together, a deux, until Pilar begins to wonder if she will someday regret not having a baby with Brad. Are they crazy to begin now — with Brad about to become a grandfather and Pilar with a busy career, and in her early forties, possibly putting herself at risk? Through the lives of these couples, Danielle Steel shows us the mixed blessings we face as we build our families and live our modern lives. She touches us with the triumphant people who prevail, their victories, their defeats, their tragedies and joys, their compromises, their lives.

«A bold English adventuer. An invincible Japanese warlord. A beautiful woman torn between two ways of life, two ways of love. All brought together in a mighty saga of a time and place aflame with conflict, passion, ambition, lust and the struggle for power. «Superbly crafted... grips the reader like a riptide... gets the juices flowing!» — «Washington Star». «Exciting, totally absorbing... be prepared for late nights, meals unlasting, buisness unattended...» — «Philadelphia Inquirer». «Adventure and action, the suspense of danger, shocking, touching human relationships... a climactic human story». — «Los Angeles Times».»

It is the early 19th century, when European traders and adventurers first began to penetrate the forbidding Chinese mainland. And it is in this exciting time and exotic place that a giant of an Englishman, Dirk Straun, sets out to turn the desolate island of Hong Kong into an impregnable fortress of British power, and to make himself supreme ruler... Tai-Pan!

When a baby is abandoned on the doorstep of a young socialite widow, the woman thinks she knows the identity of the father: her deceased writer husband, the cad! But who is the mother? Reluctantly, Nero Wolfe accepts the case, and Archie identifies the first clue: unusual buttons on the baby's overalls.

A repackaged Nero Wolfe mystery — the perfect companion for anyone who savors a good murder served up with true flair. Features an introduction by noted writer Randy Russell and never-before-published memorabilia from the life of Rex Stout.

«A great deal of wit and playfulness... an entire universe of disorder is distilled» Guardian.»

A grand master of the form, Rex Stout is one of America's greatest mystery writers, and his literary creation Nero Wolfe is one of the greatest fictional detectives of all time. Together, Stout and Wolfe have entertained — and puzzled — millions of mystery fans around the world. Now, with his perambulatory man-about-town, Archie Goodwin, the arrogant, gourmandizing, sedentary sleuth is back in the original seventy-three cases of crime and detection written by the inimitable master himself, Rex Stout. When Priscilla Eads, heiress to cotton-towel millions, first pleads for Nero Wolfe's assistance, the portly detective decides to wash his hands of a case that has more than its share of dirty laundry. Just hours later Miss Eads and her maid are found strangled to death under circumstances that don't quite wash. Now, to the dismay of a greedy board of directors and a fortune-hunting South American ex-husband, the astute Wolfe feels, on second thought, a certain responsibility to dip into Priscilla's case and scrub away the stain — of murder!

George Bernard Shaw was the greatest British dramatist after Shakespeare, a satirist equal to Jonathan Swift, and a playwright whose most profound gift was his ability to make audiences think by provoking them to laughter. In one of his best-loved plays, Pygmalion, which later became the basis for the musical My Fair Lady, Shaw compels the audience to see the utter absurdity and hypocrisy of class distinction when Professor Henry Higgins wagers that he can transform a common flower girl into a lady — and then pass her off as a duchess-simply by changing her speech and manners. In Major Barbara Shaw spins out the drama of an eccentric millionaire, a romantic poet, and a misguided savior of souls, Major Barbara herself, in a topsy-turvy masterpiece of sophisticated banter and urbane humor. His brilliant dialogue, combined with his use of paradox and socialist theory, never fails to tickle, entertain — and challenge.