As They Were

Noted transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau spent two years, two months, and two days chronicling his near-isolation in the small cabin he built in the woods near Walden Pond on land owned by his mentor, the father of Transcendentalism, Ralph Waldo ...

What defines Boston? Its history? Its landmarks? Its sports teams and shrines?Perhaps the question should be, who defines Boston? From Henry David Thoreau to Dennis Lehane, Boston has been beloved by many of America's greatest writers, and there is ...

In The Naked Soul of Iceberg Slim, the fierce and lyrical icon for criminal reformation describes himself as illfrom Americas fake faade of justice and democracy. For Iceberg Slim, the illness may have been a detriment, but for us its a gift. His ta...

The Lone Star state has been a subject of pride and admiration for generations of writers. Forever Texas features the works of some of the most memorable men and women who ever lived in Texas. With essays by President George W. Bush, H. Ross Perot, ...

“[Twain] was, in the phrase of his friend William Dean Howells, ‘the Lincoln of our literature’... At the heart of his work lies that greatest of all American qualities: irreverence.” — Washington Post “More than...

Where do you begin with a writer as original and brilliant as David Foster Wallace? Here--with a carefully considered selection of his extraordinary body of work, chosen by a range of great writers, critics, and those who worked with him most clos...

Five great American short story writers, dating from the turn of the nineteenth/twentieth centuries are represented here. Different in atmosphere and writing style, they nevertheless caught the mood and concerns of the day in a way that was distinct...

First published in 1849, this essay argues that individuals have rights and duties in relation to their government. Motivated by his disgust over both slavery and the Mexican-American War, Thoreau argued that individuals must not permit nor enable t...

E. B. White is best known for his childrens books, such as Charlottes Web, Stuart Little, and The Trumpet of the Swan. A columnist for the New Yorker for over half a century and coauthor of The Elements of Style, White hit his stride as an American ...