Metropolitan Library System

Learn about one of the most prolific writers of the twentieth century, Ray Bradbury, and his experiences in youth, his passion for writing captivating and unknowingly prophetic stories, and the Cold War era that shaped him.

Learn about the exciting life and times of F. Scott Fitzgerald, the era of the Jazz Age, and its influence on Fitzgerald's greatest works.

A fascinating insight into the life of Ernest Hemingway, exploring his involvement in World War I and the Spanish Civil War, and detailing how these events and love influenced his most celebrated works.

Adoring fans have explored much about Harry Potter, especially his classic hero's journey. However, many don't notice how the other characters suffer through the same struggle at every stage of life – one Dumbledore and Neville Longbottom pass but Draco Malfoy and Voldemort do not. Exploding into the Wizarding World in 2016, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child offered an unusual double hero's journey for Albus Severus and Scorpius and a twisted antiheroine's...

El reconocido escritor Juan Esteban Constaín no solo es un gran novelista. También es historiador de oficio y profesión. Y por eso ha dedicado su columna Barataria en El Tiempo a contar historias, sucesos y opiniones de muchos temas, entre ellos, una antología de columnas sobre temas históricos y literarios. Las mejores de estas anécdotas las hemos reunido en este delicioso libro, que se lee como un divertimento, con muchas noticias increíbles...

While plays are printed works and are therefore certainly able to be read, they don't truly come alive until they are performed, with actors breathing life into the words on the page. After reading this engaging and informative book, young readers may well want to write and perform their own creative works. Happily, how to do just that is spelled out in the book itself. Also included are excerpts from famous and not-so-famous plays-all to educate,...

'The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.' Observations like this make Mark Twain the most widely read and quoted American author. This guide utilizes quotes, excerpts, biographical information, and critical analysis in examining Twain's vast output of novels, personal memoirs, social criticisms, and essays, both serious and hilarious. It also demonstrates how Twain...

In Shakespeare's time, the term "comedy did not necessarily denote something funny or amusing. Rather, through such plays such as A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Merchant of Venice, the playwright examines other defining characteristics of comedic drama-the social interactions of common folks and a focus on the contradictions inherent in everyday life. Readers explore the major themes of Shakespearean comedies, which have enchanted readers and theater-goers...

Shakespeare's gift for writing tragedies was powerful indeed. His ability to create epic tragic characters-think Hamlet, Lear, and the star-crossed Romeo and Juliet-and scenarios is virtually unrivalled. Readers examine the Bard's major tragedies and their significance, and touch upon the state of theatre and dramatic performance in Shakespeare's England for good measure.

For most students, the images stirred by the word "poet" are those of an introverted individual removed from the crowd and devoted more to his or her work than engaging in the company of others. Walt Whitman spent a lifetime avoiding these commonly held notions of what a writer should be. From founding his own newspaper to acting as a volunteer nurse during the Civil War, Whitman encountered years of progress and turmoil that dramatically influenced...