John Kendrick Bangs was an American author and satirist whose most famous works were mysteries. In particular, his series about the gentleman thief Raffles remain popular today.

"For much of the twentieth century, these remarkable early novels were hidden in the great shadow of The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Now we can examine them in the spotlight for the gifts that they are—memorable monuments to style and keys to understanding Wilder's genius." – Penelope Niven, Thornton Wilder BiographerFeaturing a foreword by Penelope Niven and a revealing afterword by Wilder's nephew, Tappan, this reissue reintroduces the reader to the Thornton Wilder's first novel, The Cabala, and to The Woman of Andros, one of the inspirations for his Pulitzer Prize-winning play Our Town.A young American student spends a year in the exotic world of post-World War I Rome. While there, he experiences firsthand the waning days of a secret community (a "cabala") of decaying royalty, a great cardinal of the Roman Church, and an assortment of memorable American ex-pats. The Cabala, a semiautobiographical novel of unforgettable...

For a few seconds, however, the tall stranger seemed to lose all of his cockiness, and a somber look crept over his jovial features. “Have you ever heard of the hex of the white feather?”

Ella Hickson's version of J.M. Barrie's much-loved story puts the character of Wendy firmly centre stage, in an adaptation that is refreshingly modern but never loses the charm of the original.Winter 1908. Snow is falling across London. Wendy Darling and her brothers sleep peacefully in their bedroom, as their parents bicker downstairs. In a sudden flurry of snow their window blows open, and into their lives tumbles a mischievous boy called Peter, followed by a fractious fairy called Tink.With the aid of a little fairy dust, Wendy agrees to fly with Peter to Neverland, seeing not only the promise of an awfully big adventure, but also the chance to rediscover the key to her parents' lost happiness. Once there, she will give the Lost Boys a run for their money, defeat Captain Hook and his pirate crew, and ultimately, learn what it means to grow up.Commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, Ella Hickson's Wendy & Peter Pan premiered at the Royal...

John Kendrick Bangs (May 27, 1862 – January 21, 1922) was an American author, editor and satirist. This volume contains the Half-Hours with the Idiot, of the famous humorous series "The Idiot", written by American author, editor and satirist John Kendrick Bangs, in which an odd character of simple thinking out-foxes those who think they are his better. While reading it, you won\'t be able to control yourself at times, and you will just laught outloud...

John Kendrick Bangs (May 27, 1862 – January 21, 1922) was an American author, editor and satirist. Coffee and Repartee First released in 1893, Coffee And Repartee is a collection of breakfast chats at a gentlemans boarding house run by a Mrs. Smithers. Here these fellows repeatedly face questions and proclaimations of an inhabitant they call The Idiot. The discussions sound friendly under pretense, but are really sly battles of ribald wit and cunning charm, as well as rather offensive remarks during a time period considered by many to favour a height of refined etiquette. The Idiot spars well, but will the other residents get the better of him?

The Pursuit of the House-Boat is the sequel to A House-Boat on the Styx. The novel opens with the Associated Shades taking stock of their situation. Captain Kidd has hijacked the House-Boat and they must find a way to get it back, the group decides to hire the famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, who, at the time had just been killed off by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle gave his blessings for Bangs to use his character making this an authorized Sherlock Holmes adventure. Rollicking good fun!

"Loud, slap dash and uproarious...extraordinarily original and funny."—New York TimesNow, for the first time in a standalone edition, Thornton Wilder's brilliant, hilarious play which was adapted into the hit Broadway musical Hello, Dolly with an afterword by Wilder's nephew, Tappan Wilder.Horace Vandergelder, a wealthy old merchant residing in Yonkers has decided it's time to take a wife and hires a matchmaker. But Dolly Gallagher Levi is no ordinary matchmaker. She's a force of nature, with a plan of her own. Levi soon becomes involved in the affairs of the hearts of all those around her—including Vandergelder's niece, his store clerks, assorted young and lovely ladies, and the headwaiter at an expensive restaurant, where this swift farce inevitably runs headlong into hilarious complications. Indeed, after a series of slapstick situations involving mistaken identities, a secret rendezvous behind carefully placed...

Complete digitally restored reprint (facsimile) of the original edition of 1907 with excellent resolution and outstanding readability. Illustrated by Albert Levering with 33 pictures. “Alice in Blunderland: An Iridescent Dream” is a novel by John Kendrick Bangs, written in 1907 and published by Doubleday, Page & Co. of New York. It is a political parody of Lewis Carroll's two books, published in London, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871). It is critical of economic issues such as taxation, corporate greed, and corruption. Instead of entering Wonderland, Alice finds herself in "Blunderland", which is also described as "Municipal Ownership Country".

John Kendrick Bangs was an American author and satirist whose most famous works were mysteries. In particular, his series about the gentleman thief Raffles remain popular today.

Jimmieboy's father had bought him a bicycle, and inasmuch as it was provided with a bag of tools and a nickel plated bell the small youth was very much pleased with the gift. "It's got rheumatic tires, too," he said, when describing it to one of his little friends. "What's that?" asked the boy. "Big pieces of hose pipe," said Jimmieboy. "They run all around the outside of the wheel and when you fill 'em up with wind and screw 'em up tight so's the wind can't get out, papa says, you can go over anything easy as a bird." "I s'pose," said the little friend, "it's sort of like sailing, maybe. The wind keeps blowing inside o' those pipes and that makes the wheels go round." "I guess that's it," returned Jimmieboy. "But I don't see why they call 'em rheumatic," said the other boy. "Nor I don't, either," said Jimmieboy, "unless it's because they move a little stiff at first." It was not long, however, before Jimmieboy discovered that his father had made a mistake when he said that the pneumatic tire would enable a bicycle to ride over anything, for about a week later Jimmieboy tried to ride over the shaft of a lawn mower with his wheel, with disastrous results. The boy took a header, and while he himself was not hurt beyond a scratch or two and a slight shaking up, which took away his appetite, the wonderful rubber tire was badly battered. What was worse, the experience made Jimmieboy a little afraid of his new possession, and for some time it lay neglected.

The optimism of the early sixties, infused with the excitement of the space race and the menace of the Cold War, is filtered through the rich imagination of high-spirited, eight-year-old Madeleine, who welcomes her family's posting to a quiet Air Force base near the Canadian border. Secure in the love of her beautiful mother, she is unaware that her father, Jack, is caught up in a web of secrets. When a very local murder intersects with global forces, Jack must decide where his loyalties lie, and Madeleine will be forced to learn a lesson about the ambiguity of human morality -- one she will only begin to understand when she carries her quest for the truth, and the killer, into adulthood twenty years later.

"It was before the Idiot\'s marriage, and in the days when he was nothing more than a plain boarder in Mrs. Smithers-Pedagog\'s High-class Home for Single Gentlemen, that he put what the School-master termed his "alleged mind" on plans for the amelioration of the condition of the civilized." This humorous story describes how the Idiot sets out to improve the lot of civilized man through his inventions - the lot of barbarian man already being well tended to by missionaries and other do-gooders