Satire
The Inspector-General
The Governor and Officials of a small provincial town in Russia are worried. They have received word that a Government Inspector is on his w…
The Unbearable Bassington
The Unbearable Bassington was the first novel written by Saki (H. H. Munro). It also contains much of the elegant wit found in his short sto…
Godfrey Morgan
This Verne adventure is indeed a mystery and also a satire on the Crusoe genre. Our characters are larger than life, as well they should be …
Self and Self-management
Bennett's essays always provide food for thought and bring a wry smile to the lips. Human nature, it appears, changes little over the ages, …
Reginald in Russia
Reginald in Russia is a collection of fifteen sharp and humorous stories by H. H. Munro, better known as Saki. Through the lens of the titul…
The Relentless City
A satiric novel of manners written in Benson's classic style of gently poking fun at class structures and the people who fill them. This tim…
Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit
Old Martin Chuzzlewit has heaps of money that has never brought him anything but misery. Estranged from his grandson and namesake, when word…
Gulliver's Travels
First published in 1726, Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" presents, as a mock travel tale, a series of thought experiments mi…
Anti-imperialist Writings
Anti-imperialist Writings presents a thought-provoking collection of Mark Twain's reflections on imperialism, drawn from his diverse body of…
Kandid oder Die beste Welt
Der satirische Roman "Kandid oder die beste Welt" (Candide ou l'optimisme) erzaehlt die abenteuerliche Geschichte des naiven Jueng…
Hard Times
Hard Times, the shortest of Dickens's full-length novels, is set in the fictitious Victorian-England city of Coketown, where facts are the r…
Fraternity
A satire of middle-class complacency and artistic aspiration. It is the story of a strange bohemian upper-class love triangle, and of a myst…
Lucia in London
In the third book in the Mapp and Lucia series, provincial snob and social climber Mrs. Emmeline Lucas, known to her friends as Lucia, and h…
Roads of Destiny
This is another collection of O. Henry short stories. - Summary by Sid
Northanger Abbey
Northanger Abbey is a hilarious parody of 18th century gothic novels. The heroine, 17-year old Catherine, has been reading far too many “hor…
The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle
The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle follows the life of its titular character, an egotistical dandy navigating the complexities of 18th-centu…
The Gentle Grafter
If Jefferson "Parleyvoo" Pickens had appeared in print just a few years later, he might have been the "Gentle Grifter" i…
Knickerbocker's History of New York
Washington Irving, an author, biographer, historian, and diplomat, completed his first major work, a satire of contemporary local history an…
Castle Rackrent
"One of the most inspired chronicles written in English" was the verdict of William Butler Yeats on the novel Castle Rackrent by M…
Hard Times
Charles Dickens' 1854 novel opens with the philosophy of education espoused by the eminently practical Mr. Gradgrind, who prizes "facts…