Penguin American library

First serialized in 1908, "Martin Eden" is Jack London's classic and tragic tale of its title character and his struggle to become a writer. Martin Eden is an idealistic and self-educated young man who struggles to overcome poverty and a lack of opportunities in a quest to become an educated and successful artist. He hopes to find acceptance in the world of the wealthy and refined, though he finds it hard to shake off his coarse working-class background....

"The Awakening" is the story of Edna Pontellier, an attractive young wife and the mother of two sons living in the Creole south in the late 19th century. Edna feels herself trapped in a marriage where she is unable to express her passionate sensuality and as a result explores a spiritual and sexual awakening through an affair with a younger man during one summer while her husband is away. Liberated by this experience she sends her children away and...

The Oregon Trail is the gripping account of Francis Parkman's journey west across North America in 1846. After crossing the Allegheny Mountains by coach and continuing by boat and wagon to Westport, Missouri, he set out with three companions on a horseback journey that would ultimately take him over two thousand miles. His detailed description of the journey, set against the vast majesty of the Great Plains, has emerged through the generations as...

William James believed that individual religious experiences, rather than the precepts of organized religions, were the backbone of the world's religious life. His discussions of conversion, repentance, mysticism and saintliness, and his observations on actual, personal religious experiences -- all support this thesis. In his introduction, Martin E. Marty discusses how James' pluralistic view of religion led to his remarkable tolerance of extreme...