Burton Raffel Book order (chronological)

The greatest love story in English, this play features star-crossed lovers who bravely defy social conventions, leading to tragic outcomes. In Verona, the feud between the Montagues and Capulets creates a tense atmosphere, with the Prince declaring death for any breach of peace. For young Romeo and Juliet, the animosity of their families is irrelevant. Their secret meetings draw them closer to disaster as their families edge toward open conflict. This work has inspired various adaptations, including West Side Story and Baz Luhrmann's Romeo+Juliet, blending passion and hatred, comedy and tragedy. The edition includes an introduction to Shakespeare's life and Elizabethan theatre, a specific introduction to the play, a chronology, reading suggestions, an essay on performance options, and commentary. Shakespeare, born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564, produced remarkable dramas and a collection of sonnets that are among the most significant love poetry in English. If you enjoyed this play, you may also appreciate A Midsummer Night's Dream, available in the same series.

Presents a new translation of the Anglo-Saxon epic chronicling the heroic adventures of Beowulf, the Scandinavian warrior who saves his people from the ravages of the monster Grendel and Grendel's mother.

George P. Elliott, Bobbie Ann Mason, Blanche McCrary Boyd, Jayne Anne Phillips, Peter J. Taylor, Ann Beattie, Jean Stafford, Richard Ellman, Purdy James, Donald Barthelme, Stanley Elkin, Philip Roth, Richard Yates, John Updike, Grace Paley, Flannery O'Connor, John Cheever, Alice Walker, Mark Helprin, Wright Morris, Robert Greenwood, Leonard Michaels, Susan Fromberg Schaeffer, Joyce Carol Oates, Layle Silbert, Bernard Malamud, Saul Bellow, Ivi Goodman, Walter Mosley Jr.

This superb collection celebrates the astonishing growth of the short storiy in America from the early nineteenth century to the outbreatk of World War II. From the very beginnings of this youngest of literary forms, American writers have played a crucial role in its development. Here are thirty-three of their finest stories, ranging from the brooding romanticism of Hawthorne and Poe to the wit of Twain and Thurber - from the high moral consciousness of James to the sheer high spirits of Saroyan. Taken together, these classic tales form a remarkably rich and vital record of one of our literature's proudest and most original achievements.