Of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s insight into the Puritan’s simultaneous need for fulfillment and self-destruction, D. H. Lawrence wrote, “Nathaniel knew disagreeable things in his inner soul. He was careful to send them out in disguise.” By means of artfully crafted and compelling tales, Hawthorne explored the destinies and concerns of early American settlers and citizens. In several of the stories in this collection, characters who hold themselves apart from their fellow man fall prey to the corroding desires of lust for perfection. Then they unwittingly commit evils—against themselves and others—in the name of pride. Edgar Allan Poe noted of Hawthorne’s writing: “Every word tells, and there is not a word which does not tell.”

Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Earth's Holocaust" is a classic short story from the renowned collection "Mosses from an Old Manse." This tale showcases Hawthorne's signature style, blending American literature with profound themes and captivating narratives. A timeless piece that resonates with readers across generations.

A rich, illustrated - and entertaining -- history of the iconic Grand Central Terminal, from one of New York City's favorite writers, just in time to celebrate the train station's 100th fabulous anniversary. In the winter of 1913, Grand Central Station was officially opened and immediately became one of the most beautiful and recognizable Manhattan landmarks. In this celebration of the one hundred year old terminal, Sam Roberts of The New York Times looks back at Grand Central's conception, amazing history, and the far-reaching cultural effects of the station that continues to amaze tourists and shuttle busy commuters. Along the way, Roberts will explore how the Manhattan transit hub truly foreshadowed the evolution of suburban expansion in the country, and fostered the nation's westward expansion and growth via the railroad. Featuring quirky anecdotes and behind-the-scenes information, this book will allow readers to peek into the secret and unseen areas of Grand Central -- from the tunnels, to the command center, to the hidden passageways. With stories about everything from the famous movies that have used Grand Central as a location to the celestial ceiling in the main lobby (including its stunning mistake) to the homeless denizens who reside in the building's catacombs, this is a fascinating and, exciting look at a true American institution.

An NPR Best Book of the Year: “The most honest, unflinching, cathartically biting novel I’ve read about the Chinese American experience.” —Celeste Ng, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Our Missing Hearts Winner, Anisfield-Wolf Book Award * Winner, Chautauqua Prize *Finalist, Dayton Literary Peace Prize * A New York Times Notable Book * A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year Sly, funny, intelligent, and artfully structured, The Fortunes recasts American history through the lives of Chinese Americans and reimagines the multigenerational novel through the fractures of immigrant family experience. Inhabiting four lives—a railroad baron’s valet who unwittingly ignites an explosion in Chinese labor; Hollywood’s first Chinese movie star; a hate-crime victim whose death mobilizes the Asian American community; and a biracial writer visiting China for an adoption—this novel captures and capsizes over a century of our history, showing that even as family bonds are denied and broken, a community can survive—as much through love as blood. “Intense and dreamlike . . . filled with quiet resonances across time.” —The New Yorker “Riveting and luminous . . . Like the best books, this one haunts the reader well after the end.” —Jesmyn Ward, National Book Award-winning author of Sing, Unburied, Sing “A moving, often funny, and deeply provocative novel about the lives of four very different Chinese Americans as they encounter the myriad opportunities and clear limits of American life . . . gorgeously told.” —Chang-rae Lee, Buzzfeed “A poignant, cascading four-part novel . . . Outstanding.” —David Mitchell, The Guardian

The short fiction of a writer who helped to shape the course of American literature. With a determined commitment to the history of his native land, Nathaniel Hawthorne revealed, more incisively than any writer of his generation, the nature of a distinctly American consciousness. The pieces collected here deal with essentially American matters: the Puritan past, the Indians, the Revolution. But Hawthorne was highly - often wickedly - unorthodox in his account of life in early America, and his precisely constructed plots quickly engage the reader's imagination. Written in the 1820s, 30s, and 40s, these works are informed by themes that reappear in Hawthorne's longer works: The Scarlet Letter, The House of the Seven Gables and The Blithedale Romance. And, as Michael J. Colacurcio points out in his excellent introduction, they are themes that are now deeply embedded in the American literary tradition.

In his most powerful and provocative novel to date, master storyteller Irving Wallace turns his incomparable talents to the world of sex therapy. Erotically charged, compassionate, and suspenseful, The Celestial Bed explores the way people make love in postsexual-revolution America. Dr. Arnold Freeberg is a courageous, pioneering sex therapist whose dedication to his patients and the principles of his profession prompt him to step outside the law and utilize the most effective tool of all in combating sexual dysfunctions--sex surrogates. Although sex surrogates are highly trained and supervised professionals who guide, demonstrate, and teach people with low sexual self-esteem how to enjoy intimacy, according to the law in many states they are prostitutes. Driven out of Arizona, Dr. Freeberg establishes a new clinic in southern California with the help of his most experienced surrogate, beautiful young Gayle Miller, and a new male surrogate, movie-star-handsome Paul Brandon. But where Dr. Freeberg expected to be able to practice in peace, he encounters powerful adversaries--an ambitious district attorney, a power-hungry evangelist, a duplicitous newspaper reporter, and the violently jealous psychotic boyfriend of one of his most needy patients--who would tear down his life's work, humiliate his patients, and put him and his staff on trial for pandering and prostitution. In the riveting, swiftly-paced narrative style that made him one of America's most widely read authors, Irving Wallace takes the reader behind closed doors into the private treatment rooms where sex surrogates lead their patients through the therapeutic exercises designed to bring them to sexual fulfillment. Readers will find themselves drawn into a circle of extraordinary people dedicated to repairing the sexually wounded, and come to understand the sex therapist's essential piece of wisdom--good lovemaking is first loving yourself and then learning to share that love with another.

In 1867, while staying with her father in a small California mining town, ten-year-old Winnie meets a Chinese boy close to her age and discovers the role of his people in completing the transcontinental railroad.

A magical love story, inspired by the legend of a woman who vanished from Grand Central Terminal, sweeps readers from the 1920s to World War II and beyond. “Readers who enjoyed Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife will be enchanted.”—Publishers Weekly “I utterly loved this clever, charming, hopeful tale of true love against all odds.”—Ariel Lawhon, New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia On a clear December morning in 1937, at the famous gold clock in Grand Central Terminal, Joe Reynolds, a hardworking railroad man from Queens, meets a vibrant young woman who seems mysteriously out of place. Nora Lansing is a Manhattan socialite and an aspiring artist whose flapper clothing, pearl earrings, and talk of the Roaring Twenties don’t seem to match the bleak mood of Depression-era New York. Captivated by Nora from her first electric touch, Joe despairs when he tries to walk her home and she disappears. Finding her again—and again—will become the focus of his love and his life. As thousands of visitors pass under the famous celestial blue ceiling each day, Joe and Nora create a life of infinite love in a finite space, taking full advantage of the “Terminal City” within a city. But when the construction of another landmark threatens their future, Nora and Joe are forced to test the limits of their freedom—and their love. Praise for Time After Time “I’ll never again set foot in Grand Central Terminal without looking over my shoulder for Nora and Joe, or marveling at the station itself—a backdrop as intriguing as the love story that unfolds beneath its star-studded ceiling.”—Georgia Hunter, New York Times bestselling author of We Were the Lucky Ones “In lively prose set against the fascinating history of Grand Central . . . Grunwald asks a compelling question: How long would we stay in one place [for love]?”—Time “The spectacular Lisa Grunwald has written a classic story of fate, true love, art, and chance with truth and beauty. You will want to share it with every reader you know.”—Adriana Trigiani, New York Times bestselling author of Tony’s Wife