by Louisa May Alcott
Read by Blair Brown. The story of Rosamond Vivian, brought up as a recluse by her indifferent grandfather on an island off the english coast, was considered too sensational to be published a century ago when it was written. Rosamond's only knowledge of the outside world is through books, and she is ripe for the manipulations of the handsome, charming Philip Tempest when he suddenly appears one stormy night. Instead of the freedom she craves, Rosamond finds herself caught up in a web of intrigue, cruelty and deceit when she marries Philip. Fleeing his power, she travels from Parisian garret to mental asylum, from convent to chateau, across Italy, France and Germany. (3 hrs. 2 cs.)
CAL002 / Buy $18 / Rent $5.75
by Louisa May Alcott
Read by Franette Liebow. Alcott's hidden trove of anonymous and psydonymous stories keeps growing. This is a collection of tales of intrigue and suspense, violence and evil, jealousy and revenge, featuring a succession of powerful and passionate heras. (3 hrs. 2 cs.)
CAL003 / Buy $16.95 / Rent $5.75
by Gertrude Atherton, US, 1898
Read by Flo Gibson. Life in California at the turn of the century as seen through the experiences of the shy, plain daughter of a spanish grandee and the vivacious, beautiful daughter of a San Francisco entrepreneur. (9 hrs. 6 cs.)
CAT001 / Buy $38.95 / Rent $12.25
by Jane Austen, England, 1796
Read by Sharon Williams. Almost every quiet, well-bred line of this novel about "how girls catch husbands" is crowded with the wit, sly irony and biting satire that have endeared the book to generations of readers. Walter Scott said that Jane Austen had "that exquisite touch which renders ordinary commonplace things and characters interesting." "Interesting," hah! Walter, few of us have found the story of prejudiced Elizabeth and proud Darcy less than compelling! (11 hrs. 8 cs.)
CAU004 / Buy $59.95 / Rent $13.75
by Jane Austen, England, 1797
Read by Greta Scacchi. This was Jane Austen's last novel, published posthumously. It is a tale of love and marriage, told with the irony, insight and just evaluation of human conduct which set her novels apart. But the heroine, like the author, is more mature, and the characters who embody false values are subject to some of the most withering satire Jane Austen ever wrote. (7.75 hrs. 6cs.)
by Jane Austen, England, 1797
Read by Joanna Lumley. Jane Austen satirizes the melodramatic gothic novels of her time and portrays her heroine, Catherine Morland, as charmingly natural and straightforward. (3 hrs. 2 cs.)
CAU003 / Buy $15.95 / Rent $5.75
by Jane Austen, England, 1797
Read by Greta Scacchi. This was Jane Austen's last novel, published posthumously. It is a tale of love and marriage, told with the irony, insight and just evaluation of human conduct which set her novels apart. But the heroine, like the author, is more mature, and the characters who embody false values are subject to some of the most withering satire Jane Austen ever wrote. (8.25 hrs. 8 cs.)
CAU006 / Buy $69.95 / Rent $13.75
by Ambrose Bierce, US, c. 1872
Read by Gene Engene. A veteran of the Civil War, Bierce wrote a collection of fictional short stories reflecting what he saw during his tour of duty. In addition to the title story, includes: "A Little of Chickamauga," "On A Mountain," "Four Days in Dixie," "What Occurred At Franklin," "A Horseman In The Sky," and "Chickamauga." (2.5 hrs. 2 cs.)
CBI001 / Buy $14.95 / Rent $5.75
by Charlotte Bronte, England, 1847
Read by Margaret McKay. This classic is grounded in the three Bronte sisters' miserable experiences at their charity boarding school. Jane Eyre is a penniless orphan, consigned to the local asylum, where she eventually is trained as a teacher. She goes as governess to Thornfield Hall and meets and falls in love with Mr. Rochester. On the brink of marriage, Jane discovers that the insane Mrs. Rochester is shut up at Thornfield, and flees. After nearly dying wandering around the moors, she is nursed back to health by the local minister and his sisters. (19.5 hrs. 13 cs.)
CBR003 / Buy $89 / Rent $18
by Emily Bronte, England, 1848
Read by Daniel Massey. Heathcliff-the very name conjures up the dark brooding presence, his love of Catherine, unto death and beyond, and his terrible revenge. Gothic romance. (3 hrs. 2 cs.)
CBR002 / Buy $15.95 / Rent $5.75
by Richard Burton, England, 1885-88
Read by Philip Madoc. Not children's stories, the original tales were full of adventure, sexuality, violence and the supernatural. They inspired the imagination of the 19th century explorer, linguist and erotologist Burton, who brought his worldly experience and expressive prose style to bear on the tales of Sinbad the Seaman and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. Every night that Scheherazade spins a story for the king, her death sentence is postponed another day. (3.75 hrs. 3 cs.)
CBU001 / Buy $14.98 / Rent $8
by Willa Cather
Read by Flo Gibson. The Pulitzer winner from Nebraska gives us the story of Thea Kronberg, a gifted and passionate girl struggling to escape the confines and constraints of a small Colorado town to pursue an operatic career. (13.5 hrs. 9 cs.)
CCA003 / Buy $56.95 / Rent $14.50
by Willa Cather, US, 1913
Read by Dana Ivey. Alexandra Bergson is the daughter of swedish immigrants, a spirited, courageous, and independent woman. When her father dies, she assumes responsibility for her family and their farm. Her devotion to the harsh Nebraska prairie transforms her life as she works the land into orderly fields, orchards, ponds and gardens. Cather's lyrical descriptions of Nebraska farm life are a treasure. (3 hrs. 2 cs.)
CCA001 / Buy $16 / Rent $5.75
by Willa Cather, US, 1918
Read by Grover Gardner. After the death of her immigrant father, Antonia works as a servant for neighbors in the farmlands of Nebraska. She leaves for an unfortunate affair with an irish railway conductor, but returns home, eventually marries and raises a large family in true pioneer style. (8.5 hrs. 6 cs.)
CCA002 / Buy $38.95 / Rent $12.25
by Geoffrey Chaucer, England, c. 1390
Read by Prunella Scales and Martin Starkie in modern English.. A medieval collection of stories told by pilgrims on the road to Canterbury. For example, the lusty wife of Bath tells of her five marriages. (3 hrs. 2 cs.)
CCH001 / Buy $15.95 / Rent $5.75
by Joseph Conrad, England, 1902
Read by David Case. An astonishing literary classic about a cruel, corrupt trader in the belgian Congo, which raises profound questions about the compromises people sometimes make with evil. (4.5 hrs. 3 cs.)
CCO004 / Buy $26.95 / Rent $8
by Noel Coward, England, c. 1930
Read by Denholm Elliott. Two complete stories, brilliantly read. The title tale, considered by many to be Noel Coward's best, is a hilarious account of the battle of egos that accompanies the launching of a new play. As an added bonus, cassette 2 includes another story of the theater, "Traveller's Joy." Both are brimming with Coward's famous wit and subtle satire. For even more delicious Coward, see the drama section for Private Lives & Present Laughter. (3 hrs. 2 cs.)
CCO003 / Buy $15.95 / Rent $5.75
by Charles Darwin, England, 1859
Read by Ken Ruta. Written for the lay person, Darwin's revolutionary classic sets forth his theory of evolution. It set the cat among the pigeons, and not only in the scientific world. Reminds me that we are not backsliding in every way. Just think, back then almost everyone in Euroamerica was a creationist! (3 hrs. 2 cs.)
CDA001 / Buy $16.95 / Rent $5.75
by Charles Dickens, England, 1836-37
Read by Paul Scofield. The novel that made Dickens famous and Duncan's favorite, used in courting 17-year-old Debby. Evokes the warmth and laughter of Samuel Pickwick, Esq. and his fellow Pickwickians. (3 hrs. 2 cs.)
CDI003 / Buy $15.95 / Rent $5.75
by Charles Dickens, England, 1843
Read by Patrick Stewart. This classic for children and adults is the short novel that gave "Tiny Tim," "Scrooge" and "bah, humbug!" to the english language. Our poor world is teeming with scrooges; should this audio book play through the month of December instead of musak carols? (3 hrs. 2 cs.)
CDI004 / Buy $15.95 / Rent $5.75
by Charles Dickens, England, 1849-50
Read by David Case. The personal history of David Copperfield was Dickens's favorite among his novels. The author's harsh and unhappy childhood translates into a convincing portrait from David's point of view. Here are all sorts of characters who have become part of our language and culture such as Mr. Micawber and Uriah Heep. (20 hrs. 13 cs.)
CDI011 / Buy $89 / Rent $18
(19 hrs. 13 cs.)
CDI012 / Buy $89 / Rent $18
by Charles Dickens, England, c. 1854
Read by Stephen Thorne. "Now what I want is Facts" announces Thomas Gradgrind, an eminently practical man and industrial magnate. This is one of Dickens's most powerful books, a bleak portrait of life in a Lancashire mill town in the 1840's and the awful toll it takes on the inhabitants. Gradgrind's children are oppressed not just by the surroundings, but also the uncompromising utilitarianism espoused by their father and his like. (10.5 hrs. 9 cs.)
by Charles Dickens, England, 1859
Read by John Carson. The violence of the french revolution is the backdrop to this panoramic novel. It centers on a woman, Lucie, and the two men who love her: Charles Darnay, who must guard the secret of his aristocratic birth, and his look-alike, Sydney Carton. (3 hrs. 2 cs.)
CDI006 / Buy $15.95 / Rent $5.75
by Charles Dickens, England, c. 1850
Read by Paul Scofield. Six spine-tinglers from the creator of Christmas Past: "The Ghost Chamber," "Mr. Testator's Visitation," "A Child's Dream of a Star," "The Signal-Man," "To Be Read at Dusk" and "The Trial for Murder." (3 hrs. 2 cs.)
CDI007 / Buy $15.95 / Rent $5.75
by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russia, 1880
Read by Debra Winger. One of literature's great novels in a brilliant new translation by Larissa Volokhonsky and Richard Pevear. Dostoevsky is one of the masters of the psychological novel, focussing on people who are misfits-the abnormal, the insane and the mystical. (6 hrs. 4 cs.)
CDO002 / Buy $27.95 / Rent $10.25
by George Eliot, England, 1860
Read by Margaret McKay. In this partly autobiographical novel set in the rural England of her childhood, Eliot tells the story of a young, fiery, independent woman whose life is slowly hemmed in by the expectations of the world around her. Eliot, the lifelong companion of a man to whom she was not married, knew a lot about being ostracized, even as she became established as one of the greatest of the victorian novelists. (20 hrs. 14 cs.)
CEL002 / Buy $89 / Rent $18
by George Eliot, England, 1861
Read by David Case. Marner, the linen weaver, was driven out of his community on a false charge of theft, and then robbed of all his gold by the squire's reprobate son. Silas's loneliness and bitterness are cured by Eppie, a baby he rescued from the snow and adopted. The solemnity of the story is relieved by the humor of the rustic revellers at the Rainbow Inn, and the genial friendliness of Dolly. (7.5 hrs. 5 cs.)
CEL003 / Buy $46.95 / Rent $11
by George Eliot, England, 1871
Read by Ronald Pickup. The spirited Dorothea Brooks marries an elderly cleric, in the belief that she has devoted her life to a great cause. Instead she finds herself committed to a petty, vindictive man and inept scholar, and drawn to his young artist cousin. A young doctor marries the frivolous Rosamond, whose extravagances threaten to destroy him. Blackmail thickens a plot which explores marriage, death, vocation and the power of circumstance to alter fate. (312 hrs. 4 cs.)
CEL004 / Buy $22 / Rent $10.25
by F. Scott Fitzgerald, US, 1925
Read by Alexander Scourby. A classic of american literature. Gatsby embodies the naive notion that it is possible to invent oneself and persuade the world to accept that definition. Fitzgerald's elegant style evokes to perfection the glitter and charm of the jazz age. (4.5 hrs. 3 cs.)
CFI001 / Buy $19.95 / Rent $8
by Gustave Flaubert, France, 1857
Read by Margaret McKay. Emma Bovary is a woman possessed by a burning hunger for life and love, and by a passion that can never be fulfilled. Feeling trapped in a loveless marriage, Emma indulges in a lifestyle of reckless overspending and a series of shocking affairs which threaten to destroy her and everyone around her. (12 hrs. 8 cs.)
CFL001 / Buy $64.95 / Rent $13.75
by E.M. Forster
Read by Joanna David. Forster takes up one of his favorite themes: the 'undeveloped heart' of the english middle classes. Here, they are represented by a group of tourists and expatriates in Florence. Lucy Honeychurch is torn between lingering social and sexual victorian proprieties and the spontaneous promptings of her own undeveloped heart. (7.25 hrs. 6 cs.)
CFO004 / Buy $54.95 / Rent $12.25
by E.M. Forster, England, 1905
Read by David Case. Passion and betrayal result when turn-of-the-century cultures collide. Recently widowed and desperate to escape her oppressive upper-class english in-laws, free-spirited Lilia Herriton finds refuge in the ancient landscapes of rural Italy. There she impulsively marries a handsome young neighbor. When a child is born, tragedy strikes, and Lilia's scandalized relatives embark on a plot to bring her young son to England for a "proper" upbringing. (6 hrs. 4 cs.)
CFO002 / Buy $49.95 / Rent $10.25
by E.M. Forster, England, 1910
Read by Emma Thompson. A country house is the setting for a fateful confrontation between three very different kinds of people: staunch believers in tradition and property rights, cultured and emancipated sisters who believe in love and goodness, and a clerk who lives at the edge of poverty and ruin. Forster's best. (3 hrs. 2 cs.)
CFO001 / Buy $16 / Rent $5.75
by E.M. Forster, England, c. 1920
Read by Charles Kay. Includes: "The Story of a Panic," "The Other Side of the Hedge," "The Celestial Omnibus," "Other Kingdom," "The Curate's Friend," "The Road from Colonus," "The Machine Stops," "The Point of It," "Mr. Andrews," "Co-ordination," "The Story of Siren" and "The Eternal Moment." (7.25 hrs. 6 cs.)
CFO003 / Buy $44.95 / Rent $12.25
by Sigmund Freud, Austria, c. 1900
Read by Sydney Walker. "Our therapy works by transforming what is unconscious into what is conscious." In these words, Freud (1856-1939) explained the newborn field of psychoanalysis. These lectures are regarded as a textbook of the field and Freud's clearest accounting of his theories on dreams and the unconscious. (3 hrs. 2 cs.)
CFR001 / Buy $17.95 / Rent $5.75
by Zane Grey, US, 1910
Read by Gene Engene. Not only is there gun fighting, cattle rustling and struggling over water holes, but also the thrilling capture and winning over of Silvermane, the magnificent wild stallion admired and wanted by every white man and native american on the desert, all intermingled with a love story between Jack Hare and the beautiful Mescal. (8.5 hrs. 6 cs.)
CGR004 / Buy $33.95 / Rent $12.25
by Zane Grey, US, 1912
Read by Gene Engene. This is one of the great western classics and the most famous of Grey's books. It is the story of mormon Jane Withersteen, threatened on all sides by cattle rustlers and greedy mormon men who want her ranch and her for their own, and of her protection by a gentile gunfighter. (14 hrs. 12 cs.)
CGR003 / Buy $57.95 / Rent $16.75
by Thomas Hardy, England, 1886
Read by Alan Bates. From the opening scene when Michael Henchard sells his wife and daughter at a country fair, this is the tragedy of a man who cannot escape the consequences of his drunken act. (3 hrs. 2 cs.)
CHA002 / Buy $15.95 / Rent $5.75
by Thomas Hardy, England, 1891
Read by Peter Firth. When John Durbeyfield discovers a family connection to the ancient norman family, the d'Urbervilles, the fate of daughter Tess is transformed. Visiting the wealthy d'Urberville cousins, Tess attracts the attention of the unscrupulous Alec. Seduced and discarded by him and alone in the world, she finds work as a milkmaid, and the love of Angel Clare. But new disasters occur before the unfolding of the final, dramatic events. (14.3 hrs. 12 cs.)
CHA005 / Buy $94.95 / Rent $16.75
by Thomas Hardy, England, 1895
Read by Stephen Thorne Jude is a stonemason who longs to study at the nearby university town, until Arabella comes into his life and eclipses all else. But their marriage is a failure, and not until Jude meets his spirited and intelligent cousin Sue does he dare to dream again. Those dreams make the pair social outcasts and in defying conventional morality their lives become plagued by uncertainty and torment. (15.5 hrs. 12 cs.)
CHA006 / Buy $94.95 / Rent $16.75
by Bret Harte, US, 1868
Read by Jack Sondericker & Gene Engene. Three classic stories about life and death in the mining camps. In addition to the title story, includes "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" and "Tennessee's Partner." (3 hrs. 3 cs.)
CHA004 / Buy $19.95 / Rent $8
by Nathaniel Hawthorne, US, 1850
Read by Michael Learned,. who brilliantly evokes the brooding, conflicted atmosphere of this american classic, drawing out themes of modern relevance. (3 hrs. 2 cs.)
CHA003 / Buy $15.95 / Rent $5.75
by O. Henry, US, c. 1904
Includes "Gift of the Magi," "Roads of Destiny," "The Ransom of Red Chief," and "The Furnished Room." (2 hrs. 2 cs.)
CHE001 / Buy $15.95 / Rent $5.75
by Homer, Greece, c. 800's BCE, translated by Robert Fagles
Read by Ian McKellen. Master translator Fagles gives us Odysseus, the "man of twists and turns," with the energy of Homer's original, in a bold, contemporary idiom. In the myths and legends retold in this immortal poem, Odysseus meets the challenges of deities and monsters in Troy only to return after 20 years to a home besieged by his wife's suitors, barely kept at bay by the exhausted Penelope's own legendary twists and turns. (13.2 hrs. 12 cs.)
by Helen Hunt Jackson, US, 1884
Read by Boots Martin. Subtitled The Heart And Conscience Of Early California. In this first protest novel of California, Jackson weaves the stories of Native Americans, Mexicans and Anglos locked in combat. Through the romance of a half-indian, half-anglo orphan raised in a mexican household, Jackson publicized the needs of California's Native Americans after her official commission's report on the subject was ignored by the Department of the Interior which appointed her. (6 hrs. 4 cs.)
CJA005 / Buy $19.95 / Rent $10.25
by Henry James, US, 1879
Read by Tammy Grimes. Daisy Miller, a young American traveling abroad for the first time, openly ignores the rigid european social code to the disapproval of her fellow Americans. (3 hrs. 2 cs.)
CJA001 / Buy $15.95 / Rent $5.75
by Henry James, US, 1888
Read by Grover Gardner. In this superb novelette we witness the battle between a strong-willed woman determined to keep the secrets of a famous poet, and an unscrupulous man who is equally determined to uncover them. (4 hrs. 3 cs.)
CJA004 / Buy $23.50 / Rent $8
by William James, US, 1902
Read by Eric Bauersfeld. In 1901-02, James gave a series of lectures at Edinburgh University about the psychological significance of religious experience, finding that it generates a "higher energy" than ordinary consciousness. He described spiritual conversion, mysticism and saintliness from his perspective as renowned philosopher, psychologist and educator. Today he his regarded as one of the most original thinkers of his time. (2 hrs. 2 cs.)
CJA003 / Buy $17.95 / Rent $5.75
by James Joyce, 1914
Read by Danny Huston and Kate Mulgrew. "My intention was to write a chapter of the moral history of my country and I chose Dublin because that city seemed to me the centre of paralysis. I have tried to present it under four of its aspects: childhood, adolescence, maturity, and public life."-James Joyce. (2.5 hrs. 2 cs.)
CJO001 / Buy $15.95 / Rent $5.75
by James Joyce, 1914
Read by John Lynch. Stephen Dedalus's life from infancy to early manhood is the subject: the Dedalus family, Stephen's jesuit education, his sexual awakening, his intellectual development, and his eventual revolt against the religion in which he was raised. An ordinary enough tale, but the madman's language is anything but. (3 hrs. 2 cs.)
CJO002 / Buy $15.95 / Rent $5.75
by D.H. Lawrence, England, 1920
Read by Maureen O'Brien. Ursula and Gudrun Brangwen are teachers in a small town dominated by a great coal mine which is to them a symbol of the dehumanizing ugliness of industrialization. Ursula falls in love with Rupert, while Gudrun has a tempestuous and tragic affair with the son of the mine owner. As the four lovers clash in thought, passion and belief, Lawrence examines through them the destructiveness of the relationship between the sexes. Yet in the character of Ursula he holds out the hope of a new future, transcending the rigid morality of the past. (19 hrs. 14 cs.)
CLA002 / Buy $104.95 / Rent $18
by D.H. Lawrence, England, 1928
Read by Janet Suzman. Banned when first published in 1928, this is the story of Lady Constance Chatterley's awakening in mind and body under the influence of Mellors the gamekeeper. (2.5 hrs. 2 cs.)
CLA001 / Buy $15.95 / Rent $5.75
by Friedrich Nietzsche, Germany, c. 1880
Read by Leo Downey. Nietzsche (1844-1900) wrote 14 books in his brief writing career before he went mad. He was philosopher, prophet and poet, speaking to the conscience of his generation. "He that speaks here has done nothing but reflect as a spirit of daring and experiment." The selections represent a sampling of his work, from his earliest writings to the last. (3 hrs. 2 cs.)
CNI001 / Buy $17.95 / Rent $5.75
by Baroness Orczy, England, 1905
Read by Simon Williams. Paris, 1792, at the height of the french revolution. The guillotine claims a hundred aristocrats each day. But working in ever-changing disguise, the Scarlet Pimpernel and his "band of meddlesome Englishmen" are helping a large number to escape. Meanwhile, the devious and ruthless Chauvelin is gradually closing in. (3 hrs. 2 cs.)
COR001 / Buy $15.95 / Rent $5.75
by Mary Roberts Rinehart
Read by Flo Gibson. The indomitable Letitia Carberry and her cohorts Aggie and Lizzie take to the wilds for a series of rollicking adventures and misadventures, usually initiated by Tish to the fascinated horror of her two friends. (9 hrs. 6 cs.)
CRI001 / Buy $38.95 / Rent $12.25
by Lytton Strachey, England, 1918
Read by Margaret McKay. These are witty, brief biographies of early 20th century english public legends: Cardinal Manning, Gen. Gordon of Khartoum, Florence Nightingale, and Rugby headmaster Dr. Arnold. They established Strachey's reputation as enfant terrible and representative of his generation's rebellion against the values of their victorian past. (10 hrs. 7 cs.)
CST003 / Buy $39.95 / Rent $12.25
by Flora Thompson
Read by Judi Dench. This is a charming portrayal of english country life at the close of the 19th century, made up of the stories of three closely related communities: a hamlet, the nearby village, and a small market town. It chronicles May Day celebrations and forgotten children's games, the daily lives of farmworkers and craftspeople, all painted with a gaiety and freshness of imagination that are irresistible. (5.5 hrs. 4 cs.)
CTH001 / Buy $23.95 / Rent $10.25
by Flora Thompson
Read by Mollie Harris. Thompson returns to the Oxford village of Lark Rise in the late nineteenth century, and the self-sufficient little world of the children there. Laura visits the market town of Candleford, a metropolis to a village girl, and returns there every year to visit relatives. As she grows up, so too grows her idea of the right size of a town for her to live in. (7 hrs. 5 cs.)
CTH002 / Buy $49.95 / Rent $11
by Leo Tolstoy, Russia, 1875-77
Read by Margaret McKay. The story is set in the 1860's, at a time of intense social change. It tells of a woman refusing to be fettered by social convention. The wife of a government bureaucrat, Anna falls in love with a rich army officer and leaves her husband and child to follow her lover. (19.5 hrs. 13 cs.)
CTO001 / Buy $89 / Rent $18
(16.5 hrs. 11 cs.)
CTO002 / Buy $89 / Rent $16
by Mark Twain
Read by Michael Prichard. One of Duncan's farvorite Mark Twain books, it was first published when Mark Twain was nearly 50 years old. He wrote it originally as a series of articles titled "Old Times on the Mississippi." The book is full of enthusiasm for his early life on the river and wonÕt fail to make you want to become a Mississippi river boat pilot. (12 hrs. 8 cs.)
CTW005 / Buy $64 / Rent $13.75
by Mark Twain, US, 1865
Seven hilarious sketches from the pen of the great american humorist. Includes "The Jumping Frog Of Calaveras County," "Story of the Bad Little Boy," "Speech on the Weather," "Punch Brothers Punch." (3 hrs. 2 cs.)
CTW001 / Buy $15.95 / Rent $5.75
by Mark Twain, US, 1882
Read by Jack Sondericker. Born on the same day were Tom Canty in the London slums, and Edward Tudor, destined to be king of England. They were worlds apart, but so similar of feature as to be twins. When chance brings them together, the two boys exchange clothes and are mistaken one for the other. The prince is thrown out into the streets to endure the life of the slums while the frightened pauper is thrown into the role of royalty. Only one man in England has the knowledge to set things right. (6.5 hrs. 6 cs.)
CTW003 / Buy $29.95 / Rent $12.25
by Mark Twain, US, 1896
Read by Grover Gardner. A delightful and not often read work of Mark Twain, this is the story of Joan of Arc as seen through the eyes of her childhood friend and secretary; described with irony, loving detail and the author's customary pithy insight into human nature. (15 hrs. 10 cs.)
CTW004 / Buy $62.95 / Rent $15.25
by Jules Verne, France, 1873
Read by David Case. Here is a typical Verne mix of science and fiction, beginning in a London club when Phileas Fogg accepts a bet that he can go around the world in 80 days. (7 hrs. 5 cs.)
CVE001 / Buy $43 / Rent $11
by Evelyn Waugh, England, 1945
Read by Jeremy Irons. Charles Ryder's friendship with the charming, irrepressible Sebastian Flyte and his equally charming, eccentric family, begins when they are Oxford undergraduates in 1923. Carefree days of drinking champagne and driving in the country end as Sebastian's health deteriorates and questions about morality and religion are raised. (11.5 hrs. 10 cs.)
CWA001 / Buy $79.95 / Rent $15.25
by Edith Wharton, US, 1905
Read by Joanna Cassidy. An american classic. Lily Bart is a beautiful young woman caught in the glittery, superficial world of New York City in the days of the robber barons. (2 hrs. 2 cs.)
CWH001 / Buy $15.95 / Rent $5.75
by Edith Wharton, US, 1911
Read by Irene Worth. The suspenseful writing and vivid characterizations make this the most popular of her books since its publication. Worth, winner of every acting award, made a special study of New England accents before reading this story about what happened when young cousin Mattie came to live on Ethan's grim farm with his ill-tempered wife. (3 hrs. 2 cs.)
CWH002 / Buy $15.95 / Rent $5.75
by Edith Wharton, US, 1920
Read by Kate Nelligan. In gaslit 1870's New York, when society people "dread scandal more than disease," affable and affluent Newland Archer is deeply troubled. Seemingly content to live out his years in a conventional and moribund marriage to May, he is forced to confront an overwhelming passion for the bizarre Countess Olenska. (3 hrs. 2 cs.)
CWH003 / Buy $17 / Rent $5.75
by Edith Wharton, US, 1922
Read by Mari Devon. Out of print for decades, this was an international bestseller. In the 1920's, Nick and Susy have a marriage of convenience, figuring they can sponge their way through an extended honeymoon at the villas of their rich friends. They agreed that each was free to ask for a divorce if they found a rich person ready to marry them. They did not reckon on falling in love. (9.5 hrs. 7 cs.)
CWH005 / Buy $69.95 / Rent $13
by Edith Wharton, US, 1938
Read by Dana Ivey. At the time of her death in 1937, Wharton had written three fifths of The Buccaneers and prepared a detailed outline of the rest. It has been brilliantly completed by noted scholar and author Marion Mainwaring and clearly stands as one of Wharton's finest works. Set in 19th century NY and London, it is a captivating story of love and social piracy among America's nouveaux riches and England's fading aristocracy. (3 hrs. 2 cs.)
CWH004 / Buy $16 / Rent $5.75
by Oscar Wilde, England, c. 1892
Read by Donada Peters. Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854 and died in Paris in 1900, having made a great success with his books and plays. He was the hero of the scandal of the century when at the age of 41 he was imprisoned for two years for homosexual activity. These stories all date from early in his career and include witty social commentaries and imaginative fairy tales. (5 hrs. 5 cs.)
CWI002 / Buy $30 / Rent $11
by Owen Wister, US, 1902
Read by Gene Engene. This has been called history's greatest western novel. It is the story about the Virginian, the sad end of his friend Steve, and the deceitfulness of Trampas, the Virginian's foe. (15.25 hrs. 12 cs.)
CWI003 / Buy $57.95 / Rent $16.75
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