Showing results by narrator "Marty Krz" in All Categories

Hedda and George Tesman have just returned from their six-month honeymoon tour of the Tyrol. George, a studious and somewhat dull academic has spent most of the time continuing his research. Hedda, the daughter of the celebrated, aristocratic General Gabler, recently deceased, has been accustomed to the finer things in life. She is already bored in her marriage and diverts herself with her father's pistols and the attentions of family friend, Judge Brack.

Wealthy heiress Catherine Sloper has always been plain and rather simple, though very sweet. She is drawn by the attentions of handsome gentleman Morris Townsend, the only man who ever even noticed her. But is he more interested in her fortune than Catherine herself? When they get engaged, despite protestations from her brilliant physician father, Catherine has to choose between her inheritance or love.

A young man receives a great windfall but is prevented from fully exploiting his good fortune until he has met certain exacting preliminary conditions. In this case, Montgomery Brewster, an eligible but impecunious young bachelor, receives a bequest of $1,000,000 from a relative. Shortly afterward he is notified that he has been nominated as the beneficiary of another and much larger bequest, but under a strict qualification: He must dispose of the initial bequest in total within a year.

Wells had a keen interest in the political and social issues of his day, one of the most significant of which was the outbreak of the First World War. This book, written in 1916, presents the story of Mr Britling, a political commentator, living in comfortable security in his country estate at Matchings Easy, in Essex. He entertains a varied assembly of guests, including Mr Direck, an American journalist, and Herr Heinrich, a German philology student who acts as a family tutor, and the general atmosphere is a hectic social whirl.

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891) is best known for her major role in the development of Theosophy, a syncretic religious philosophy the principles of which underlie the New Age philosophy of today. The original version of Nightmare Tales consisted of the last five stories in this recording and was published in 1892, shortly after the author's death. An expanded edition incorporating four earlier stories was published in 1907.

Anna Katherine Green (1846-1935) was one of the first writers of detective fiction in America and has been called “the mother of the detective novel”. Her style would influence other writers such as Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Doctor, His Wife and the Clock is the sixth title in her mystery series and is more a novelette compared to her other books. The story features one of her reoccurring characters, Ebenezer Gryce, who is called in to find out who killed a well-loved and respected citizen in a small community where he had no enemies to speak of.

Young Cedric lives with his widowed mother in New York. His late father was a British earl who had been disowned by his father for marrying an American. As all of the earl of Dorincourt's sons have now died, he begrudgingly looks to Cedric as his sole heir. While the earl soon comes to love the endearing little Cedric, conflict arises when a strange woman appears on the scene and insists that her son is the true heir.

A Munchkin named Bini Aru discovers a way to transform people and objects by speaking the magic word "pyrzqxgl." When Ozma proclaimed that no one was allowed to practice magic in Oz except for Glinda and The Wizard, Bini hid his notes in his laboratory. When his son Kiki finds these notes, he transforms himself into a hawk and sets off on an adventure. Landing in Ev, he runs into Ruggedo, the former Nome King who was exiled and now sees his opportunity for revenge through Kiki's power.

Antonio, a wealthy and popular merchant, is in financial difficulty. He approaches a Jewish money lender, Shylock, who agrees to provide 3000 ducats, with a very curious bond – a pound of the merchant’s flesh, to be levied if Antonio fails to make a timely repayment. Feeling confident that his argosies will arrive in time to cover the debt, Antonio agrees to this bizarre transaction.

In As You Like It, a wicked Duke expels his virtuous brother, the lawful ruler, from his domains. The banished Duke takes refuge with his followers in the Forest of Arden, where they live as free a life as did Robin Hood and his merry men.

Poe in Prose is a collection of short stories from one of the original kings of horror, Edgar Allan Poe. One of America's first practitioners of the short story and considered to be the inventor of the detective fiction genre, Poe is the first well-known American writer to earn a living through writing alone.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a well-known classic that never seems to lose its magic. Dorothy Gale and her trusty little dog Toto are swept away when a cyclone hits the family farm. Along with her new friends The Scarecrow, The Tin Woodman, and The Cowardly Lion, Dorothy follows the yellow brick road in search of The Emerald City to meet the Great Oz. He is a powerful wizard with the ability to send her back to her dear Aunt Em and Uncle Henry...but at what cost? The first book in the Oz series, this novel introduces us to the strange Land of Oz and its odd inhabitants.

Between 1862 and 1865 Ambrose Bierce served in the Union Army in the Civil War. He was active as an infantryman and engineer, and fought at the Battle of Shiloh in 1862. Six autobiographical pieces were inspired by his wartime experiences and were published as a collection in 1909.

As with many of Ostrovsky's plays, the target of the author's satire is the merchant class and the inevitable corruption associated with mercantile endeavors. In Ostrovsky's bitterly realistic world, all personal encounters end in transactions, some humourous and some tragic.

Stephen Arnold Douglas was one of two Democratic Party nominees for president in the 1860 presidential election, which was won by Republican Abraham Lincoln. The Lincoln-Douglas debate, which occurred during the senatorial campaign, in Illinois, in 1858, focused on the contentious issue of slavery. The Republican party was in principle opposed to slavery while the Democratic party supported it.

Abraham Lincoln was probably the most iconic world leader of recent centuries and also one of the most researched. It is estimated that over 15,000 books have been written about him - significantly more than have been composed about more recent dominant figures of world history like Churchill and Hitler.

In a public debate held at the Manhattan Opera House, Clarence Darrow argued that not one of the 19 men under sentence of death at Sing Sing Prison would have been convicted if they could have afforded good attorneys. He was opposed by Judge Alfred J. Talley of General Sessions, who argued for the retention of the death penalty for murder. The debate commenced with an address by Lewis Lawes, who was the warden at Sing Sing.

Under the auspices of the League for Political Discussion, in a meeting held at the Manhattan Opera House, Rev. John Haynes Holmes of the Community Church, taking the positive, and Clarence Darrow, taking the negative, debated the following proposition: "A Resolution that the United States should continue the policy of prohibition as defined in the 18th Amendment." The meeting was chaired by Senator Royal S. Copeland and introduced by Benjamin Javits.

The book Decisions, Decisions: Practical Guide to Managing Your Health and Finances is aimed at providing new graduates, couples, elderlies, new migrants, and more, a simple and effective tool to guide them through the process of acquiring life insurance, health insurance, of understanding how social security works, how to buy a house, how to appreciate the importance of education, and how to prepare for retirement. Take the time to educate yourself and learn the basic principles you will need to make sound decisions about your life.

Dorothy Scarborough was an academic and author who had a particular interest in the supernatural. The following collection, first published in 1921, features stories that have a strong comical or satirical focus.