Free summaries
American Literature — page 10
458 public-domain american literature books, summarised. Page 10 of 10.
The best short stories of 1921, and the yearbook of the American short story
Unknown
A vintage snapshot of American literary ambition, this volume captures a nation's storytellers in the very act of defining a modern art form.
The Song of the Lark
Willa Cather
A young woman leaves a tiny, sun-baked Colorado town, discovers the depth and power of her voice, and endures years of unrelenting discipline to become a premier operatic soprano on the world stage.
The Trimmed Lamp, and Other Stories of the Four Million
O. Henry
A sprawling urban panorama where quiet heartbreak, sharp satire, and sudden tenderness walk hand in hand through the turn-of-the-century metropolis.
The Tale of Terror: A Study of the Gothic Romance
Edith Birkhead
To step into the shadowy corridors of the literary past is to discover that our appetite for the macabre is no modern defect, but a timeless human impulse.
Holiday Tales: Christmas in the Adirondacks
W. H. H. (William Henry Harrison) Murray
In the freezing depths of the New York wilderness, an old outdoorsman learns that true Christmas cheer isn't found in solitary comfort, but in sharing food, fire, and forgiveness with those who need them most.
Familiar Letters: The Writings of Henry David Thoreau, Volume 06 (of 20)
Henry David Thoreau
A lifetime of correspondence reveals the gradual transformation of a fiery young transcendentalist into a solitary observer of nature, charting his journeys through deep woods, intellectual friendships, and terminal illness.
The shadow over Innsmouth
H. P. (Howard Phillips) Lovecraft
A traveler enters a dying coastal town and uncovers a lineage of monstrous blasphemies, only to discover that the dark waters he flees are flowing inside his own veins.
The Oxford Book of American Essays
Unknown
A single culture does not emerge fully formed overnight; it builds itself through tiny observations, violent national shifts, and quiet, solitary reflections. Bound together across a century of American thought, these selected writings trace a young nation learning how to think, write, and see itself clearly.
The Eyes Have It
Philip K. Dick
A mundane afternoon reading session transforms into a desperate struggle against panic when every common literary figure of speech is taken with terrifying, literal precision.
A Collection of Stories, Reviews and Essays
Willa Cather
Amid the wide prairies, drafty tenements, and critical battlegrounds of turn-of-the-century America, lonely souls search for beauty, human connection, and their rightful place in a rapidly shifting world.
Myths and Legends of Our Own Land
Charles M. (Charles Montgomery) Skinner
A vast, spirited gathering of local lore across the American landscape, tracking how rivers, hills, and frontier hamlets came to be haunted by human passion, ghostly vengeance, and supernatural wonder.
Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
An expansive reference guide illuminates the rich tapestry of classical allusions, historical figures, and philosophical pillars underpinning nineteenth-century transcendentalist thought.
Barbarians
Robert W. (Robert William) Chambers
A collection of interconnected short stories set during the Great War, this work follows various volunteers and soldiers as they confront the encroaching shadow of enemy infiltration behind the lines in France.
Wild Animals I Have Known
Ernest Thompson Seton
In the North American wilderness, animals do not live as collective species, but as individual personalities bound to tragic, heroic, and deeply human fates.
Franklin's Autobiography: (Eclectic English Classics)
Benjamin Franklin
This account of a self-made life traces the transformation of an inquisitive Boston apprentice into a preeminent statesman and man of letters. It serves as both a historical record and a foundational manual for personal industry.
Hanover
Jack Thorne
A Black editor defies white supremacists in 1898 Wilmington, igniting a deadly coup that shatters a community and forces its survivors to seek redemption amid the ashes.
The $30,000 Bequest, and Other Stories
Mark Twain
These stories capture the peculiar American collision of grand ambition and mundane reality. They offer a sharp, witty look at how dreams of wealth and status distort the lives of ordinary people.
Journal 02, 1850-September 15, 1851: The Writings of Henry David Thoreau, Volume 08 (of 20)
Henry David Thoreau
A quiet, painstaking immersion into nineteenth-century New England, where daily excursions through woods and meadows become a profound practice of intellectual and spiritual awakening.
The Women Who Make Our Novels
Grant M. (Grant Martin) Overton
An observer of modern literature captures thirty-five living women writers in their prime, detailing how popular art gets made in early twentieth-century America.
The Piazza Tales
Herman Melville
A quiet domestic porch opens onto mountain illusions, masking the dark, unraveling world of human obsession, illusion, and quiet rebellion.
American nights entertainment
Grant M. (Grant Martin) Overton
A candid and charming slice of literary history, this guide reveals how modern publishing, author personalities, and early twentieth-century reading tastes collided to shape a nation's love for books.
The Letters of William James, Vol. 1
William James
A brilliant, restless mind opens itself in unfiltered private letters, tracking the journey from an uncertain young student searching for a vocation to a foundational figure in modern philosophy and psychology.
Optimism: An Essay
Helen Keller
A quiet, resolute conviction that human joy is a deliberate spiritual duty, forged in total silence and darkness, can dismantle every cynical argument against the goodness of existence.
Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne
A comprehensive structural directory maps the entire printed legacy of a New England master, organizing decades of novels, sketches, short stories, and personal journals into a single reference volume.
Excursions
Henry David Thoreau
A quiet revolution awaits the reader who steps onto the trail of the American wilderness, where the rustle of fallen oak leaves and the scent of wild apples offer a richer education than any university.
The Conduct of Life
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Courageously facing the rigid mechanics of existence, a mind discovers that personal power, practical work, and noble ideals can master raw circumstance.