The Four Million is the second book written by O. Henry while he served time for embezzlement in a penitentiary in Ohio. The book is a series of short stories which take place in New York City in the early years of the 20th century and are representative of the surprise endings that popularized O. Henry’s work. They also capture his use of coincidence or chance to create humor in the story. O Henry wrote about ordinary people in everyday circumstances. He is quoted as once saying, “There are stories in everything. I’ve got some of my best yarns from park benches, lampposts and newspaper stands.”
Oscar Wilde's first play confronts the hypocrisy of public 'morality' compared with genuine, private kindness. When it opened in 1892, Lady Windermere's Fan was an instant success and now, a century later, it continues to be revived frequently. The reasons for its popularity are not difficult to identify: the play's witty dialogue contains many of Wilde's most quoted aphorisms, its stylish setting provides opportunities for elegant presentation, and its cast of memorable characters play out a story which is genuinely moving.
Quirky Quotations: More Than 500 Fascinating, Quotable Comments and the Stories Behind Them
Most reference questions dealing with quotations are either of the who-said-what or of the what-can-I-use-in-my-speech genre. Although this volume might be used in these ways, the lack of an index makes it more of a browsing volume. The author ( The Cat's Pajamas: A Fabulous Fictionary of Familiar Phrases , Fawcett: Ballantine, 1988; Curious Customs: The Stories Behind 296 Popular American Rituals , Harmony: Crown, 1988) deliberately omits the most quoted (Shakespeare, Wilde, Shaw, Mencken, Ecclesiastes) to concentrate on the less well known or off the wall.
This ABC book is an illustrated alphabet book for small kids but it is not an ordinary issue as it was published in the USA in 1900. It provides ABC of Nature which is rhymed definitions for each letter and authentic pictures and Alphabet of Nature itself which is the list of words quoted in the ABC. This book could be of some interest to both kids and English rarities collectors.
