Selected works of humor and criticism by a revered American master. Beloved by millions, Mark Twain is the quintessential American writer. More than anyone else, his blend of skepticism, caustic wit and sharp prose defines a certain American mythos. While his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is still taught to anyone who attends school and is considered by many to be the Great American Novel, Twain's shorter stories and criticisms have unequalled...

Once again, David Sedaris brings together a collection of essays so uproariously funny and profoundly moving that his legions of fans will fall for him once more. He tests the limits of love when Hugh lances a boil from his backside, and pushes the boundaries of laziness when, finding the water shut off in his house in Normandy, he looks to the water in a vase of fresh cut flowers to fill the coffee machine. From armoring the windows with LP covers...

A best-selling classic features six additional works on the joys and embarrassments of favorite holidays, in a volume that includes tales of tardy trick-or-treaters, the difficulties of explaining the Easter Bunny to another culture, and a barnyard Secret Santa scheme gone awry.

Join host Ira Glass and his company, as they bring a different theme to life each week, in the format of the popular Chicago radio show by the same name. In Escape, teenage boys in Philadelphia impress girls using a mode of transportation obsolete in their neighborhood since the 19th century, and a young man's fight for independence from his mother is complicated by some very specialized circumstances. In Two wars, we learn about two foreigners in...

"This new collection of fairy tales, drawn from the Archives of Appalachia at East Tennessee State University and the special collections at Berea College, celebrates a lively current of storytelling going back centuries in Appalachia. The volume's editor, Stacy Sivinski, has written an introduction contextualizing the regional oral tradition that produced these adaptations and retellings of well-known tales. She explains what makes the stories distinctively...

Join host Ira Glass and his company, as they bring a different theme to life each week, in the format of the popular Chicago radio show by the same name. In Reality check, we hear the stories of three people who hatched plans to make their dreams come true, only to be brought back to reality by unpleasant outcomes. Growth spurt introduces the viewer to three people who simply will themselves to the next stage of their lives, with mixed results. The...