Showing results by author "Mentor New York" in All Categories

John Kendrick Bangs was an American author and satirist, and the creator of modern Bangasian Fantasy, the school of fantasy writing that sets the plot wholly or partially in the afterlife. (Wikipedia) Plot summary: J K Bangs has taken Alice from Lewis Carroll's “Alice in Wonderland” and lets her on a boring day travel with the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, the Cheshire Cat and the other of Carroll's familiar characters to Blunderland. The story is a well written Satire, a witty, humorous tale of adventure and city politics, a tale of Alice in a land where nothing is as it should be. (Summary...

Thirty three essays by more or less well-known authors of Britain, the United States, and Canada, each fronted by an introductory paragraph. Early twentieth or late nineteenth centuries. “I think I can offer you, in this parliament of philomaths [lover of learning], entertainment of the most genuine sort;…as brilliant and sincere work is being done to-day in the essay as in any period of our literature. Accordingly the pieces reprinted here are very diverse. There is the grand manner; there is foolery; there is straightforward literary criticism; there is pathos, politics, and the ...

This book includes the classic alphabet, Sing-A-Song Of Sixpence, The Frog Who Would A Wooing go, The Three LIttle Pigs, Puss In Boot, and The Ugly Duckling. Fun for all ages! (Summary by Sam Stinson)

Dr. Watson chronicles here some of the more interesting detective cases that he and his good friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, have encountered during their association. We see the cases unfold as he does, scratch our heads as does he while the evidence is collected, and then marvel at the impeccable observations, remarkable insight, and doggedness which Holmes displays as he teases apart the tangled clues.Packaged as twelve distinct cases, by the end of this book your own senses of observation and deductive reasoning should be improved. It's easy to see why this book became a model for detective ...

The Adventures of Reddy Fox is another in the series of children’s stories by conservationist Thornton W. Burgess. In this story, Reddy and Granny Fox must outsmart Farmer Brown’s Boy who is out to get Reddy for stealing his pet chicken. Along the way, Reddy encounters many of the citizens of the Green Meadows and the Green Forest and with him we learn little lessons about life such as: the perils of being a show off; the importance of using all of one’s senses; that it is a fine thing to show sympathy and kindness to others – even our enemies; and that the value of a grandmother’s ...

"“Who is he?” I asked. “The worst man in London,” Holmes answered, as he sat down and stretched his legs before the fire." And so begins this Sherlock Holmes adventure with the most morally corrupt and vile man in London. A man whom Sherlock must accept into his home and treat with professional courtesy despite intense personal disgust and animosity. What power does this man hold over Holmes and the other people he forces into terrible situations? - Summary by phil c

The quirky mind of famous SF writer Lester del Ray gives us three wonderful tales ranging from zombies (Dead Ringer), time travel (how do you convince your earlier self it is safe to get into the time machine, eh?)(...And It Comes Out Here) and eternal life (The Dwindling Years). Listen and enjoy.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom Sawyer's Comrade), often shortened to Huck Finn, is a novel written by Mark Twain and published in 1884. It is commonly regarded as one of the Great American Novels, and is one of the first major American novels written in the vernacular, characterized by local color regionalism. It is told in the first person by Huckleberry "Huck" Finn, best friend of Tom Sawyer and narrator of two other Twain novels. The book is noted for its colorful description of people and places along the Mississippi River. By satirizing a Southern antebellum society that was already ...

Also known as "The Children's Homer," this is Irish writer Padraic Colum's retelling of the events of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey for young people. Colum's rich, evocative prose narrates the travails of Odysseus, King of Ithaca: his experiences fighting the Trojan War, and his ten years' journey home to his faithful wife Penelope and his son Telemachus. ( Summary by Elizabeth Klett )

Bartley Alexander is a construction engineer and world-renowned builder of bridges going through what's known today (but not in 1912) as a mid-life crisis. Although married to his wife Winifred, Bartley resumes his acquaintance with a former lover, Hilda Burgoyne, in London. The affair proves to gnaw at Bartley's sense of propriety and honor. (Summary by Wikipedia)

Please note: this recording contains strong language. Also known simply as "1601", this is a humorously risque work by Mark Twain, first published anonymously in 1880, and finally acknowledged by the author in 1906. (Summary by John Greenman & Wikipedia)

The turmoil of the world we cannot avoid, but the disturbances of mind we can overcome. The duties and difficulties of life claim our attention, but we can rise above all anxiety concerning them. Surrounded by noise, we can yet have a quiet mind; involved in responsibilities, the heart can be at rest; in the midst of strife, we can know the abiding peace. The twenty pieces which comprise this book, unrelated as some of them are in the letter, will be found to be harmonious in the spirit, in that they point the reader towards those heights of self-knowledge and self-conquest which, rising above...

Rod Norton is a lawman in a land where bandits and criminals make their own rules. Risking his life for justice and a future with the woman he loves, mortal danger awaits. For Norton and those in peril, the Bells of San Juan will chime. (Summary by Betty M.)

“The Airplane Boys accidentally bump into a new mystery which is only solved after many pages of excitement in this seventh book of air adventures.” Excerpt From: E. J. Craine. “Airplane Boys in the Black Woods.”

"Aircraft and Submarines" is a history of the development of these forms of transportation and their ultimate use in warfare. Also a brief history of submarine use in commercial applications. A thoroughly enjoyable piece for anyone interested in the detailed development of these modes of transportation. Summary by William Tomcho

Compilation of 20 Science Fiction Short Stories - Summary by Kirk Ziegler

This is what people were reading in 1903, short stories, poetry, and non-fiction articles. (Summary by BellonaTimes)

In this essay, the author directs our attention on the African continent and describes how the exploitation and colonization of Africa by European powers contributed to the then-ongoing World War. Without a just and measured settlement of African concerns, the promise is for continued warfare among nations even after the peace to be negotiated at the close of the European conflict. - Summary by KevinS

One of the two Historical novels Charles Dickens wrote, Barnaby Rudge is set around the ‘Gordon’ riots in London in 1780. The story begins in 1775 with Barnaby, his Mother, and his talking Raven Grip, fleeing their home from a blackmailer, and going into hiding. Joe Willet similarly finds he must leave his home to escape his Father’s ire, leaving behind the woman he loves. Five years later these characters, and many others whose lives we have followed, find themselves caught up in the horrific Protestant rioting led by Sir George Gordon. The mob which reaches 100,000 strong, gets out of ...

Continuing the series with European Leaders, Dr. Lord discusses William IV, Sir Robert Peel, Cavour, Czar Nicholas, Louis Napoleon, Prince Bismarck, William Ewart Gladstone. (Summary by KHand)