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"The Scarlet Ibis" is a short story written by James Hurst, first published in The Atlantic Monthlyin July 1960. It is the first and only piece by Hurst to come to prominence and reach a wide audience, but it has had a profound effect on the...

Published in 1682 and written by Puritan colonist Mary Rowlandson, TheSovereignty and Goodness of Godprovides a valuable departure from the elite, male, English perspectiveson King Phillip's War (1675-76), a war between the Indians and colonists...

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is loosely based on author Sherman Alexie's life. Alexie tells the story of Junior, a 14-year old boy growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. In adiary narration style, the novel explores...

The Caretaker is one of playwright Harold Pinter's most popular plays, and certainly one of the 20th century's most notable works of the stage. It is Pinter's second full-length play, but his first major success. Critics delve into its historical,...

First appearing in printinHarper's Magazinein October 1937, "The Chrysanthemums" is considered by many to be the best story John Steinbeck ever wrote, and among the top short stories of the twentieth century. In 1938, "The Chrysanthemums" was...

Hannah Webster Foster wrote and published The Coquette under the pseudonym of "A Lady of Massachusetts" in 1797. The book, an epistolary novel (told through letters), became one of the most popular novels of the 18th century.

Foster based her...

The Testing is the first book in a series of the same name written by Joelle Charbonneau. The story follows 16-year-old Malencia "Cia" Vale as she battles her fellow peers from all across the United Commonwealth for a handful of seats in the...

Juno and the Paycock is the second of three O’Casey plays in what is known as the “Dublin trilogy,” set in the tumultuous years of 1916-1923. During Easter Week in 1916, Irish nationalists rose against the United Kingdom in an attempt to secede...

Though he could hardly have expected it during his lifetime, since his work was roundly condemned by the conservative commentators of hisday, John Keats becameone of the most revered English poets of the Romantic period within a few decades of his...

First published in 1926, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is one of the most celebrated and controversial detective novels of all time. The novel features one of Christie’s most beloved characters, the detective Hercule Poirot, who himself appears in...

Originally released in 1984, Love Medicine is Louise Erdrich's first published novel. Initially, Erdrich wrote "The World's Greatest Fisherman" after she earned her master's degree in creative writing, and this short story later became the basis...

Arthur C. Clarke published “If I Forget Thee, O Earth” in Future magazine in 1951. Two years later it was republished as part of Clarke’s Expedition to Earth and thus expanded its readership significantly. The story proved particularly resonant...

The Complete Short Stories of Saki is a comprehensive collection of the short fiction published by the writer born as Hector Hugh Munro. Writing under the pen name Saki, the British writer published the first of what would come to be known as “...

Ihimaera published “The Whale Rider” in 1978 to critical acclaim. He wrote it in the earlier portion of his writing career, having only penned three other novels prior to it. In the introduction to the book, he explains his inspiration: his two...

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic is Alison Bechdel's first graphic memoir. Bechdel, who has been working as acartoonist since the 1980s, took seven years to completeFun Home. Itspublication in 2006 brought her wide literary renown.

Bechdel used Adobe...

Roots: The Saga of an American Family was published in 1976 after Alex Haley spent 12 years researching his family's origins. Haley grew up hearing oral traditions passed down through his family, describing the experiences of his maternal...

The Narrow Road to the Deep North is a novel written by Richard Flanagan and was published on 23 September 2013.

The novel details the life of war hero and doctor, Dorrigo Evans, who embarks in affair with his uncle’s wife. The guilt of this...

The Power and the Glory is considered by some to be the finest novel written by Graham Greene, author of Brighton Rock, The End of the Affair and both the novella and subsequent acclaimed screenplay for The Third Man. Published in 1940, the novel...

"Dreams" is a short story published in Storm Glass, a collection of virtuous short stories and the first publication by Jane Urquhart. It was originally published in 1987 and later in 2000 by Emblem Editions. Since then, the collection has seen...

Aimee Bender first published her short story “The Rememberer” in the Missouri Review in 1997 and a year later it was republished in her first collection of short stories, The Girl in the Flammable Skirt. The story is striking and memorable by...

The Tin Drum is a novel written by Gunter Grass and published in 1959. The protagonist of the novel is named Oskar Matzerath, who is telling the readers the story of his life from a mental institution. The novel is set mostly in Danzig, Poland,...

"Hercules" or "Hercules in madness" is a tragedy of an ancient Greek playwright Euripides. Date of writing is not known, but by the stylistic features researchers attribute this piece to the end of 420's or early 410's BC.

The name "Hercules"...

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is a product of three different eras of black history. The injustices portrayed in the book have their roots in the era of slavery which lasted until the Civil War and which, shamefully, continues to influence racial...

A memoir by Mishna Wolff, I’m Down is one of the most eclectic and thought-provoking works to have been released in recent times. This text was published by St. Martin's Press (2009). The author narrates the unique experience of being white while...