O. Henry is best known for his witty short stories with unexpected endings. Born William Sydney Porter, this author decided to use a pen name for his writings while he was in prison and afterwards. O. Henry brought his own information about prison and “the life of crime” into his stories. This paired with wit and plot twists is what made him such a renowned author. While O.Henry’s style is to u... Read More
William Sydney Porter, better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American short story writer. O. Henry's stories frequently have surprise endings. In his day he was called the American answer to Guy de Maupassant. Actually, the reputation of O. Henry never accepted in serious literary criticism. But only he could write stories that could make people laugh as much as they do and feel speechl... Read More
We grow up hearing the phrase ''Love conquers all.'' O. Henry's short story ''A Service of Love'' is a great example of how love drives two people to sacrifice their ambitions for the sake of each other. O. Henry wrote about this kind of sacrifices before. In his story "The Gifts of the Magi”, a tale about a young couple, who are short of money but desperately want to buy each other Christmas g... Read More
An American short story writer William Sydney Porter, better known by his pen name O. Henry, was born on September 11, 1862, in Greensboro, North Carolina. Porter used a number of pen names in the early part of his writing career. Nevertheless, the name "O. Henry" seemed to garner the most attention from editors and the public, and was used exclusively by Porter for his writing by about 1902. A... Read More
Erich Maria Remarque was a German novelist who created many works about the horrors of war. During World War I, Remarque was conscripted into the German Army at the age of 18. On 31 July, he was wounded by shrapnel in the left leg, right arm and neck, and was repatriated to an army hospital in Germany where he spent the rest of the war. With All Quiet on the Western Front, Remarque emerged as a... Read More
John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. was an American author, who won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humour and keen social perception." Most of Steinbeck's work is set in central California, particularly in the Salinas Valley and the California Coast Ranges region. His works frequently explored the themes of fate and injustic... Read More
Sir Kazuo Ishiguro is a Nobel Prize-winning British novelist, screenwriter, and short-story writer. He was born in Nagasaki, Japan, but his family moved to the UK in 1960 when he was five. Never Let Me Go is a 2005 dystopian science fiction novel. The novel's title comes from a song on a cassette tape called Songs After Dark, by fictional singer Judy Bridgewater. Kathy bought the tape during a... Read More
The Jungle Book was published in 1894 and is actually a collection of seven short stories. The settings and characterizations are drawn from Kipling’s own experiences during his nineteenth-century travels around the British Empire and include locations like India, Afghanistan and the Bering Sea. The stories all feature talking animals, and though geared toward children, are set with themes that... Read More
The Second Jungle Book is a sequel to The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. First published in 1895, it features five stories about Mowgli and three unrelated stories, all but one set in India, most of which Kipling wrote while living in Vermont. From all accounts, Kipling loved the outdoors, not least of whose marvels in Vermont was the turning of the leaves each fall. He described this moment i... Read More
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist. In 1907, at the age of 41, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, making him the first English-language writer to receive the prize and its youngest recipient to date. The size and speed of his success was an event in itself. He enjoyed profound popularity with the English-speaking public through th... Read More
A young woman marries an older man and arrives at his house, only to find that his dead wife is still there… A picture in a tower depicts a dangerous woman… A dead man walks through a house every night because sometimes the dead do come back… Stories about ghosts and suspense. What can be better? Especially when these stories come from Victorian writers and Rudyard Kipling himself. Kipling's bi... Read More
John Griffith London, born John Griffith Chaney, was an American novelist, journalist, and social activist. His most famous works include The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in the Klondike Gold Rush, as well as the short stories "To Build a Fire", "An Odyssey of the North", and "Love of Life". He also wrote about the South Pacific in stories such as "The Pearls of Parlay" and "The He... Read More
Jack London was an American author best known for writing The Call of the Wild. Jack London was his pen name, likely born in San Francisco, California as John Griffith Chaney. Like the restive characters in his works, London sought a variety of experiences as a young man including sailor, hobo and an agitator for jobs during the depression. He also wrote some of the earliest Dystopian Fiction,... Read More
Jack London, pseudonym of John Griffith Chaney, American novelist and short-story writer whose best-known works - among them The Call of the Wild and White Fang - depict elemental struggles for survival. During the 20th-century, he was one of the most extensively translated American authors. A self-taught professional deeply committed to his art and a supremely self-disciplined writer who churn... Read More
Jack London was born on January 12, 1876, in San Francisco. He was a voracious reader as a child, borrowing book after book from the public library. By age 14 he left home and became a wanderer. He worked aboard a ship for a while and also spent time hopping trains. By continuing his childhood practice of reading library books, he educated himself and eventually enrolled at the University of Ca... Read More
Jack London was an American novelist, journalist, social-activist and short-story writer whose works deal romantically with elemental struggles for survival. At his peak, he was the highest paid and the most popular of all living writers. Because of early financial difficulties, he was largely self-educated past grammar school. London drew heavily on his life experiences in his writing. He spen... Read More
Few writers have had such an extensive output of work as Jack London. During his 15-year career, he wrote 49 books, including novels, short-story collections, plays and political pamphlets – a number equalling more than three books a year. Jack London, or John Griffith London, which was his original name, led a turbulent and dramatic life, and much of his writing was inspired by his own life ex... Read More
Jack London's contribution to early 20th century American literature is somewhat underestimated; critics claim that his vast production holds a varied literary quality. However, Jack London was an immensely popular author in his time, and his major works are enjoyed by a large audience even today. During his travels, London had adopted socialist views and in 1901 ran unsuccessfully for mayor of... Read More
"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them, I shall use my time." - Jack London. Jack Lon... Read More
Jack London wrote an almost incredible number of short stories and novelettes before his premature death at the age of 40, as well as novels, novellas and a considerable number of essays, plays, poems, and articles. Because of early financial difficulties, he was largely self-educated past grammar school. London drew heavily on his life experiences in his writing. He spent time in the Klondike... Read More