Madcap, zany noir set on the mean streets of post-World War II San Francisco. Sammy "Two Toes" Tiffin is the bartender in a scruffy gin joint, with street connections that make him the go-to guy for just about everything. When one of his schemes goes south and his lady vanishes, Sammy follows a tortuous trail from Chinatown to Telegraph Hill to a hidden forest enclave in a desperate search to find his girl. Meanwhile, a suspicious flying object has...

And Lead Us Not is a comic novel about Wally Zeringue, a high school drop-out who becomes President of the United States. Wally has enemies - among them, Dan Bitterman, as former classmate who is now a reporter for the President's hometown weekly newspaper. Two other bitter enemies of Wally Zerignue become secret informants for the reporter. As Bitterman uncovers more and more dirt on the new President, the nation's intelligentsia joins in for the...

When Bertie Wooster, a blundering, but well-meaning bachelor, returns home to London after spending time in the Canes with his aunt and cousin, he discovers that his valet, Jeeves, has been advising an old friend on love. Gussie, Bertie's school friend, is head-over-heels in love with a young, whimsical lady named Madeline. Unsure what to do with his crush, Gussie turned to Jeeves in Bertie's absence, happy with the help he received. Bertie, however,...

In this representative volume, "The Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories" the reader will find twenty-four of Mark Twain's best shorter works. Classic and unforgettable tales that span the author's career are included, such as "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", which is Twain's most famous short story and was his first great success as an author. It is the unforgettable tale of Jim Smiley, the gambler who will bet on anything including...

The History of Mr. Polly is a 1910 comic novel by H. G. Wells. The protagonist of The History of Mr. Polly is an antihero inspired by H. G. Wells's early experiences in the drapery trade: Alfred Polly, born circa 1870, a timid and directionless young man living in Edwardian England, who despite his own bumbling achieves contented serenity with little help from those around him. Mr. Polly's most striking characteristic is his "innate sense of epithet",...

"If this is the best of possible worlds, what then are the others?" - CANDIDE Candide is a French satire first published in 1759 by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. It is the absurdly melodramatic story of a young man, Candide, living a sheltered life who clings desperately to "the best of all possible worlds," one which is abruptly interrupted by a series of painfully disillusioning events that set him off on a wide-ranging journey....

An Unsocial Socialist begins in an unruly girl's school, comically portraying their tricks and pranks. The narrative then moves to a seemingly ill-bred laborer, who is in fact a wealthy gentleman in disguise. He wishes, in part, to avoid his overly-affectionate wife, but also to preach socialism, of which he is a staunch convert. The story is then largely subsumed in a discussion of socialism and briefly concludes with the suitable marriages of the...

This vintage book contains Robert Smith Surtees' 1849 novel, "Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour". Light-hearted and wonderfully written, this volume follows Mr. Sponge, a quirky nineteenth-century hunting enthusiast with odd habits and a unique world view. A humorous and entertaining read, "Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour" is highly recommended for those with a love of hunting and country life. Contents include: "Our Hero", "Mr. Benjamin Buckham", "Laverick Wells",...

A financial thriller based on the Panic of 1907 by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Jungle In 1907 the stock market crashed as a result of the manipulations of a group of powerful, wealthy, and unscrupulous men. The repercussions were felt across the nation, taking a devastating toll on thousands of small investors and hardworking Americans. The Moneychangers, written a century before the term "too big to fail" became part of the national...

Anthony Trollope's 1875 novel, "The Way We Live Now", is a biting satire of the wealthy and powerful in Victorian England. Augustus Melmotte, a wealthy financier moves to London and begins to gather investors for an American railway venture. When his daughter Marie takes up with the dissolute gold-digging aristocrat Felix Carbury, Melmotte steps in to block the union. Multiple subplots involving schemes to move up in society and thwart others from...