"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." Next to the exhortation at the beginning of Moby-Dick, "Call me Ishmael," the first sentence of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice must be among the most quoted in literature. And certainly what Melville did for whaling Austen does for marriage--tracing the intricacies (not to mention the economics) of 19th-century British mating rituals with a sure hand and an unblinking eye. As usual, Austen trains her sights on a country village and a few families--in this case, the Bennets, the Philips, and the Lucases. Into their midst comes Mr. Bingley, a single man of good fortune, and his friend, Mr. Darcy, who is even richer. Mrs. Bennet, who married above her station, sees their arrival as an opportunity to marry off at least one of her five daughters. Bingley is complaisant and easily charmed by the eldest Bennet girl, Jane; Darcy, however, is harder to please. Put off by Mrs. Bennet's vulgarity and the untoward behavior of the three younger daughters, he is unable to see the true worth of the older girls, Jane and Elizabeth. His excessive pride offends Lizzy, who is more than willing to believe the worst that other people have to say of him; when George Wickham, a soldier stationed in the village, does indeed have a discreditable tale to tell, his words fall on fertile ground. Having set up the central misunderstanding of the novel, Austen then brings in her cast of fascinating secondary characters: Mr. Collins, the sycophantic clergyman who aspires to Lizzy's hand but settles for her best friend, Charlotte, instead; Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Mr. Darcy's insufferably snobbish aunt; and the Gardiners, Jane and Elizabeth's low-born but noble-hearted aunt and uncle. Some of Austen's best comedy comes from mixing and matching these representatives of different classes and economic strata, demonstrating the hypocrisy at the heart of so many social interactions. And though the novel is rife with romantic misunderstandings, rejected proposals, disastrous elopements, and a requisite happy ending for those who deserve one, Austen never gets so carried away with the romance that she loses sight of the hard economic realities of 19th-century matrimonial maneuvering. Good marriages for penniless girls such as the Bennets are hard to come by, and even Lizzy, who comes to sincerely value Mr. Darcy, remarks when asked when she first began to love him: "It has been coming on so gradually, that I hardly know when it began. But I believe I must date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberley." She may be joking, but there's more than a little truth to her sentiment, as well. Jane Austen considered Elizabeth Bennet "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print". Readers of Pride and Prejudice would be hard-pressed to disagree. --Alix Wilber --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Austen is the hot property of the entertainment world with new feature film versions of Persuasion and Sense and Sensibility on the silver screen and Pride and Prejudice hitting the TV airwaves on PBS. Such high visibility will inevitably draw renewed interest in the original source materials. These new Modern Library editions offer quality hardcovers at affordable prices. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. Jane Lapotaire, known to American audiences from her many PBS appearances, is a perfect choice to read Jane Austen's comedy of manners. Her rich and varied intonations capture just the right blend of artifice and empathy to recreate not only the lively and playfully witty Elizabeth Bennett and the handsome, albeit conceited, Mr. Darcy, but also the entire gamut of Bennett family members, friends and foes. Amazingly, Lapotaire even manages to conjure memories of the screen's Mr. D', Lawrence Olivier. This is an exquisite audio abridgment of the classic English satire. L.(H.)B. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. We recently purchased three of your classics series hardcovers for our 15 year old daughter's birthday, and she was estatic. The books are beautifully done, and it was nice to see that they used the original versions' formatting. We anxiously look forward to any new volumes you may add. If we might make a suggestion for a future addition to this series, please consider Treasure Island, as this would be a most welcome addition to her new collection. Thanks for producing a wonderful product. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. "Cover to Cover's unabridged readings of classic novels are in a class of their own." --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition. "These Cover to Cover tapes offer up a delectable feast for fans of the spoken word. We're talking class act here-from the elegant covers to the accomplished readers." --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition. "Irene Sutcliffe provides the passionate and strong reading of Austen's classic story." --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition. "Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is read here by Irene Sutcliffe and is a delight from beginning to end." --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition. "The wit of Jane Austen has for partner the perfection of her taste." --Virginia Woolf --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

A delightfully dishy novel about the all-time most impossible boss in the history of impossible bosses. Andrea Sachs, a small-town girl fresh out of college, lands the job “a million girls would die for.” Hired as the assistant to Miranda Priestly, the high-profile, fabulously successful editor of Runway magazine, Andrea finds herself in an office that shouts Prada! Armani! Versace! at every turn, a world populated by impossibly thin, heart-wrenchingly stylish women and beautiful men clad in fine-ribbed turtlenecks and tight leather pants that show off their lifelong dedication to the gym. With breathtaking ease, Miranda can turn each and every one of these hip sophisticates into a scared, whimpering child. THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA gives a rich and hilarious new meaning to complaints about “The Boss from Hell.” Narrated in Andrea’s smart, refreshingly disarming voice, it traces a deep, dark, devilish view of life at the top only hinted at in gossip columns and over Cosmopolitans at the trendiest cocktail parties. From sending the latest, not-yet-in-stores Harry Potter to Miranda’s children in Paris by private jet, to locating an unnamed antique store where Miranda had at some point admired a vintage dresser, to serving lattes to Miranda at precisely the piping hot temperature she prefers, Andrea is sorely tested each and every day—and often late into the night with orders barked over the phone. She puts up with it all by keeping her eyes on the prize: a recommendation from Miranda that will get Andrea a top job at any magazine of her choosing. As things escalate from the merely unacceptable to the downright outrageous, however, Andrea begins to realize that the job a million girls would die for may just kill her. And even if she survives, she has to decide whether or not the job is worth the price of her soul.

The second volume of The Lord of the Rings trilogy relates a tale of the eternal battle between good and evil. "The author has intimate access to an epic tradition of Germanic history, civilized by the gentler genius of modern England." -- New York Times

盖茨比不仅是美国现实生活中幻想与现实冲突的具体体现，也是美国浪漫主义英雄的化身和“美国梦”的追随者。为了追求黛西而拼命赚钱的盖茨比始终坚信“通过个人努力可以取得成功”的美国梦，但这却无法挽回黛西的爱。他毕生追求的一切最终成了泡影。黛茜是盖茨比奋斗的动力与源泉，在他的心中，她象征着上流社会一切美好的东西。但实际上，黛西和其他的上流社会的人一样，追逐财富，道德堕落，沉溺享受，内心空虚。为了自己的利益，她和汤姆合谋策划, 让盖茨比充当了她的替罪羊, 使他惨遭枪杀, 做了他们的替死鬼。 这部小说在艺术上的成就是十分杰出的, 就连曾对小说猛烈抨击的批评家门肯也不得不承认：尽管故事平庸，但文笔玲珑剔透，丝丝入扣，光彩夺目。没有陈词滥调，句子流畅通达，如行云流水，熠熠发光，又变幻无穷。显然每一行都灌注了作者的智慧和艰辛……