Open this book anywhere, any time, any place for bite-size morsels of essential (and not-so-essential) knowledge.We have two mottos here at Portable Press: "Get smart" and "Have fun." As the publishers of the wildly popular Uncle John's Bathroom Reader series, we have twenty years' experience in translating our mottos into bestselling books, but we also know that not every reader is a bathroom reader.That's why we've created this definitive collect...

The smartest and funniest quotations of all time, artfully arranged into witty—and surprising—categories. Every page will entertain, educate, and delight.Uncle John's dedicated team of quotationeers have scoured the worlds of entertainment, history, literature, politics, sports, and more to bring you this unique collection of utterances that bear repeating. From silly to profound, from Aristotle to Mr. T, you'll discover insights on such topics as love, sex, conspi...

It was a feature peculiar to the colonial wars of North America, that the toils and dangers of the wilderness were to be encountered before the adverse hosts could meet. A wide and apparently an impervious boundary of forests severed the possessions of the hostile provinces of France and England. The hardy colonist, and the trained European who fought at his side, frequently expended months in struggling against the rapids of the streams, or in effecting the rugged passes of the mountains,...

Originally published in 1823, "The Pioneers" (in full "The Pioneers; or, The Sources of the Susquehanna") is the first of five novels, but the fourth chronological story, in the series The Leatherstocking Tales by American writer James Fenimore Cooper."The Pioneers" began the saga of frontiersman Natty Bumppo, also called Leather-Stocking, and tells the interlocking story of three characters in the fictional frontier town of Templeton, New York (based on the real ...

The play was first produced at the St James's Theatre on Valentine's Day 1895 The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personæ to escape burdensome social obligations From the play's effervescent beginnings in Algernon Moncrieff's London flat to its hilarious denouement in the drawing room of Jac...

Celebrate the winners of this competition for Weirdest, Wildest, and Most Hilarious Trivia of the Year . . .Forget the Oscars, Grammys, and Golden Globes—after two decades of producing interesting and mind-boggling stories—the folks at the Bathroom Readers' Institute have come up with their own collection of pop-culture awards!This unique volume provides a new way to recognize some of the world's greatest (and oddest) achievements. Where else could you find...

This is an illustrated edition featuring striking illustrations, a detailed summary, an author biography, and a complete list of characters.Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is one of the most powerful and haunting works of twentieth-century literature — a profound exploration of alienation, identity, and the absurdity of human existence. The story follows Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman who wakes up one...

“The prince and the pauper” is a novel written in 1881 by Mark Twain. The story is set in London, in the twentieth century. On the same day two children are born with opposite social conditions. The first is Edward VI, son of King Henry VIII, the second is Tom Canty, son of a criminal and destined for a poor and miserable life. Grown up, the two meet and, both tired of their lives, finding themselves very similar in the physical aspect they exchange the "roles": Tom will be the prince and ...

The Man Who Knew Too Much is a collection of short stories by British writer Gilbert K. Chesterton, featuring his detective Horne Fisher. From the upper-classes himself, Fisher has a unique insight into political power—a position which complicates his investigations when they approach the higher levels of corrupt government. Chesterton's witty, paradoxical work, published in 1922, gives an interesting view of the pre-Great War era.

Take a trip through the rich folklore of Ireland in this enchanting volume from author James Stephens. Fairy kings, femmes fatales, bewitched animals, epic feuds -- these action-packed stories traverse a broad spectrum of themes and settings. Folklore fans and readers interested in Gaelic and Celtic culture will appreciate this collection.

Tristan and Iseult is a tale made popular during the 12th century through French medieval poetry, inspired by Celtic legend and possibly the 11th century Persian story Vis and Rāmin.

The Idiot (Russian: Идио́т, Idiot) is a novel written by the 19th-century Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It was first published serially in The Russian Messengerbetween 1868 and 1869. The Idiot, alongside some of Dostoyevsky's other works, is often considered one of the most brilliant literary achievements of the "Golden Age" of Russian literaterature.