CliffsNotes, The grapes of wrath

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James L. Roberts

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer a look into critical elements and ideas within classic works of literature. The latest generation of titles in this series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format. CliffsNotes on Crime and Punishment takes you into a masterpiece of Russian literature, a work published during the time the western world was moving away from romanticism and into a new realistic approach to writing. Following the story of an impoverished young man who expects to enrich humanity by rising to a level above the law, this study guide provides a character list, character map, and character analyses to explore the personalities within Fyodor Dostoevsky's masterpiece. Other features that help you figure out this important work include Life and background of the author Introduction to and brief synopsis of the novel Summaries and expert commentaries for each chapter within the book Essays that explore aspects of the author's characters and theories A review section that tests your knowledge and suggests essay topics and practice projects A Resource Center full of books, publications, films, and Internet resources Classic literature or modern-day treasure -- you'll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

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P.D. James

In a perfect marriage of author and subject, P. D. James--one of the most widely admired writers of detective fiction at work today--gives us a personal, lively, illuminating exploration of the human appetite for mystery and mayhem, and of those writers who have satisfied it.P. D. James examines the genre from top to bottom, beginning with the mysteries at the hearts of such novels as Charles Dickens's Bleak House and Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White, and bringing us into the present with such writers as Colin Dexter and Henning Mankell. Along the way she writes about Arthur Conan Doyle, Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie ("arch-breaker of rules"), Josephine Tey, Dashiell Hammett, and Peter Lovesey, among many others. She traces their lives into and out of their fiction, clarifies their individual styles, and gives us indelible portraits of the characters they've created, from Sherlock Holmes to Sara Paretsky's sexually liberated female investigator, V. I. Warshawski. She compares British and American Golden Age mystery writing. She discusses detective fiction as social history, the stylistic components of the genre, her own process of writing, how critics have reacted over the years, and what she sees as a renewal of detective fiction--and of the detective hero--in recent years.There is perhaps no one who could write about this enduring genre of storytelling with equal authority and flair: it is essential reading for every lover of detective fiction.From the Hardcover edition.

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Erik Bruun

Presents the history, important people, and famous places of the Golden State, as well as miscellaneous facts about California today.

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Glenn Kay and Michael Rose

Complete with a foreword by Mike Nelson, host of Mystery Science Theater 3000, this dynamic guide to one of Hollywood's most popular and enduring genres provides a history of the disaster genre, descriptions of its trends and unusual traits, portraits of famous stars, and reviews of more than 150 disaster movies. The films reviewed include everything from famous titles such as The Poseidon Adventure, Titanic, and The Towering Inferno to more obscure movies such as The Night the World Exploded, Terror on the 40th Floor, and War Between the Planets. Casual disaster-movie fans, as well as die-hard lovers of the genre will benefit from the rating system, which ranges from "Highly Recommended" to "Avoid at All Costs," and the dubious "Recommended for All the Wrong Reasons."