Clifton Fadiman

A reading list of 100 titles that appeared in "This Week" magazine, with commentary on each author and title.

A masterpiece of storytelling, this epic saga pits Ahab, a brooding and fanatical sea captain, against the great white whale that crippled him. In telling the tale of Ahab's passion for revenge and the fateful voyage that ensued, Melville produced far more than the narrative of a hair-raising journey; Moby-Dick is a tale for the ages that sounds the deepest depths of the human soul. Interspersed with graphic sketches of life aboard a whaling vessel,...

A worm with a voracious appetite for words who has grown bored with those he finds in the tabloids, discovers the dictionary where his flagging appetite revives. Includes puns, puzzles, and plays on words, as well as an afterword by the author's daughter, Anne.

Ambrose Bierce: portrait of a misanthrope, by Clifton Fadiman.--In the midst of life, tales of soldiers and civilians.--The devil's dictionary.--Can such things be?--Fantastic fables.--The monk and the hangman's daughter.--Negligible tales.--The parenticide club.

A treasury of classic science fiction stories.

Includes source list, bibliography, index of names, and index of subjects. Contains over 4,000 anecdotes about more than 2,000 famous people from around the world, past and present.