Showing results by narrator "John Burlinson" in All Categories

In compiling this collection of humorous short stories by both well known and more obscure authors, Alexander Jessup applied a broad interpretation of humour; the stories span the period between 1839 and the beginning of the first World War.

Carlo Collodi's whimsical recasting of the myth of Pygmalion and Galatea was first published in 1883 and has since become an established classic of children's literature. Geppetto, a poor wood carver, receives a piece of wood from which he carves a marionette. Much to his surprise, the puppet springs to life and embarks on a wild series of adventures.

Ten years after a tragic incident on the lake, an AA meeting in a small, religious town in the deep south of the USA descends into bitterness and chaos when a flood hits. Trapped within the local church, tempers escalate and well-buried secrets begin to emerge. Personalities clash, reputations are dissected and questioned, and everybody's demons are laid bare.

The Gettysburg Campaign and its culminating battle have generated more than their share of analysis and published works. In My Gettysburg, Civil War scholar and 26-year Gettysburg resident Mark Snell goes beyond the campaign itself to explore the culture of the battlefield. In this fascinating collection, Snell provides an intriguing interpretation of some neglected military aspects of the battle.

The Salome Ensemble probes the entangled lives, works, and passions of a political activist, a novelist, a screenwriter, and a movie actress who collaborated in 1920s New York City. Together they created the shape-shifting, genre-crossing Salome of the Tenements, first a popular novel and then a Hollywood movie. The title character was a combination Cinderella and Salome like the women who conceived her. Ginsberg considers the women individually and collectively.

In survey after survey, Abraham Lincoln is universally ranked as the greatest of America's presidents, setting standards for honesty, courage, compassion and ethical responsibility. John Drinkwater's play was the British poet's first theatrical success, opening in England in 1918 to surprising acclaim and making its way to Broadway in 1919, to even stronger public enthusiasm. It was produced on radio by Orson Wells on August 15, 1938, on his program, The Mercury Theater on the Air.

Within this audiobook, the listener will meet a 19-year-old Texas Ranger figuratively dying to shoot his gun. He does get to shoot at people, but soon realizes what he thought was a bargain, exacted a steep price. Another tale is of an old-school cowman who shut down illicit traffic in stolen livestock that had existed for years on the Llano Estacado. He was tough, salty, and had no quarter for cow thieves, or sympathy for any mealy-mouthed politicians. He cleaned house, maybe not too nicely, but he was unarguably successful.

The predominant theme in this Shakespearean tragedy, believed to have been written in about 1603, is jealousy and the destruction it causes when allowed to run rampant. It features one of Shakespeare's most compelling villains, Iago, who skillfully manipulates his commander, Othello, into believing that he has been betrayed by his wife, Desdemona, and his closest friend, Cassio.

Stephen Leacock (1869-1944) may be considered the Canadian counterpart to Mark Twain. For many years he was professor of economics at Magill University and published a number of well-regarded texts on economics and political science. However, he is best known today for his many volumes of humorous fiction. During the 1920s he was one of the most widely read authors in the English-speaking world and was considered by Jack Benny and Groucho Marx to be one of the greatest comic writers of all time.

On a bloody day in 1887, death came to Blanco, Texas. Before the sun went down, the livery stable was torched, an outlaw gang robbed the bank, two men were killed, and young newlywed Ellie Taine was raped. One of the dead was the man who planned the robbery - the son of dying, legendary Texas Ranger Jonathan Crossland - the other was Ellie's husband, an innocent bystander.

This set contains two of Andy Adams' enjoyable tales of life on the cattle trail of the American West. Adams was one of the most authentic of the classic western writers, bringing firsthand experience to his depictions of cowhands, rogues, and other remarkable characters on the frontier. Volume two includes two tales that highlight Adams unique and subtle brand of humor.

The premier Russian dramatist before Chekov, Alexander Ostrovsky was one of the first masters of realistic theatre. A typical example of his approach to drama, A Protégée of the Mistress is almost cinematic in its presentation. The action is represented by a series of vivid snapshots, in which Ostrovsky quickly and subtly illustrates the foibles and weaknesses of each character, and shows how they are forced into a hostile dependence on each other.

Climate change has at last caught up with the North Pole: an extended unseasonable burst of hot weather has brought toy production to a halt. Unscrupulous entrepreneur Milt Landon has taken advantage of the new climatic conditions and is trying to turn the North Pole into a tourist trap. Will Santa be able to return his home to its native state and deliver the toys in time for Christmas?

Santa's Christmas schedule has run into a major problem - all his reindeer, even the heroic Rudolph, are too ill to fly. However, a promising solution to Santa's dilemma is offered from an unlikely source - the eccentric elf Melvin.

Explore the rich mythology of ancient Greece! Have you always wondered why so many people are fascinated with the Greek gods? Would you like to know more about these remarkable stories? Do you want to be able to share these tales with your friends - and understand others' references to them? If so, then this is the book for you! You will learn about the primordial deities that created the universe, and the famous Titans of old.

Ty Elliot returns to his home after an absence of two years, knowing full well the danger which threatens him each hour he lingers in the old cabin in the mountains. But with his father on his death bed and his younger sister exhausted, Ty knows he must remain for a time at least. When his father makes a strange request and begs his returned son to "find her", Ty promises but is bewildered. Who is he to find?

Stories of the old West were filled with bad men who lived by the speed of their gun hands. Well, meet Buck Tarrant, who could outdraw them all. His secret: He didn't even have to reach for his weapon. This original blend of the Western tale with a story of the uncanny, "The Draw" was written by Jerome Bixby, an American short story writer, editor, and scriptwriter best known for his work in science fiction, although he also wrote many Westerns.

A bounty hunter always catches his man, even if the men he is chasing are dangerous gang-bangers and murderers. Mysterious bounty hunter Spade is hired by the new governor of Texas when voters start to become terrified of the crime waves that are taking over the state. Spade is ordered to kill Gomez and Santez, two of the most wanted murderers in Texas. He is given permission to use any force necessary to get the job done.

Andy Adams is one of the few writers of the American West who had knowledge based on experience that enabled him to record cowboy life authentically. In the early 1880s, at the age of 20, Adams traveled to Texas and remained there for 10 years, eight of which he spent trail driving, becoming a foreman before he left the trail in 1890. Because he knew the real West, he was able to write with remarkable legitimacy - a quality he maintained without compromise, making him an honest interpreter of Western culture.

After many years living abroad with her longtime lover, Lady Catherine Champion-Cheney visits her former marital home, now occupied by her son, Arnold, and his wife, Elizabeth. Also present is her estranged husband, Clive, who lives in a cottage on the estate. Elizabeth has become dissatisfied with the life she leads with her wealthy husband, who is very occupied with his political career, and she encourages the advances of a dashing but impecunious suitor, Teddy Luton.