The Magnificent Ambersons is the epic story of an American family's traumatic tumble from the dizzying heights of fame and fortune. A dynasty spanning three generations, the Ambersons' pre-eminence as society's elite is threatened -- not only by a hungry new breed of industrial entrepreneur -- but from its own arrogance and greed. At the center of the story is George Amberson Minafer, the pampered but pitiful, scion of the clan upon whose shoulders...

A collection of the author's popular poems of childhood, illustrated with Hoosier pictures by Will Vawter. James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916) was an American poet whose most famous works, Little Orphant Annie (1885) and The Raggedy Man (1890), were written in an Indiana dialect.

Clyde Griffiths was born poor, but his prospects improve when he is hired by an uncle who owns a shirt factory. Despite a warning to stay away from the women he manages, Clyde begins a love affair with a young factory worker named Roberta, but neglects her when he catches the eye of Sondra, a glamorous socialite. When Roberta turns up pregnant, Clyde's hopes of marrying Sondra are threatened and he responds with desperation.

Poets have always been preoccupied with Nature, but there are two schools of Nature poets, those who find in Nature a reflection of their own moods or a sermon for human betterment, like Wordsworth, and that rarer sort that tries to echo Nature with her own voice.

Kurt Vonnegut's absurdist classic "Slaughterhouse-five" introduces us to Billy Pilgrim, a man who becomes "unstuck in time" after he is abducted by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore. In a plot-scrambling display of virtuosity, we follow Pilgrim simultaneously through all phases of his life, concentrating on his (and Vonnegut's) shattering experience as an American prisoner of war who witnesses the firebombing of Dresden. "Slaughterhouse-five" is...

Aging science fiction writer Kilgore Trout, finds to his horror that a Midwest car dealer is taking his fiction as truth. The result is murderously funny satire as Vonnegut looks at war, sex, racism, success, politics, and pollution in America and reminds us how to see the truth.

"One of the most prominent voices of her generation debuts with an extraordinarily powerful memoir: the story of a childhood defined by the ever looming absence of her incarcerated father and the path we must take to both honor and overcome our origins. For as long as she could remember, Ashley has put her father on a pedestal. Despite having only vague memories of seeing him face-to-face, she believes he's the only person in the entire world who...

Includes bibliographical references (p. 172).

The "Mark Twain of Indiana" captures the nostalgia of small-town life and recounts his coming-of-age in Danville, Indiana. Witness the uproarious story of Gulley's young life, including his infatuation with his comely sixth-grade teacher, his dalliance with sin--eating meat on Friday and inappropriate activities with a mannequin named Ginger--and his checkered start with organized religion.

Presentation of the Indiana climate which includes the temperature, winds, atmospheric moisture, cloudiness, precipitation, and air pressures.