Dennis Orphen, in writing a novel, has stolen the life story of his friend, Effie Callingham, the former wife of a famous, Hemingway-like novelist, Andrew Callingham. Orphen’s betrayal is not the only one, nor the worst one, in this hilarious satire of the New York literary scene. (Powell personally considered this to be her best New York novel.) Powell takes revenge here on all publishers, and her baffoonish MacTweed is a comic invention worthy of Dickens. And as always in Powell’s New York novels, the city itself becomes a central character: “On the glittering black pavement legs hurried by with umbrella tops, taxis skidded along the curb, their wheels swishing through the puddles, raindrops bounced like dice in the gutter.” Powell’s famous wit was never sharper than here, but Turn, Magic Wheel is also one of the most poignant and heart-wrenching of her novels.

Ding-How and Ah-So hopped on the Magic Wheel and began to run as fast as they could. As they did so, the wheel slowly began to turn, gradually gaining speed with each turn. Faster! Ding-How urged. We must run faster! The two little friends strained with all their might to increase their speed. At last the Magic Wheel was spinning very fast. Hold on tight, Mi-Tu! Ding-How shouted. Dont let go! By now the wheel was spinning wildly, and everything became a blur. There was a great rushing of air, and suddenly, the Magic Wheel disappeared! What just happened? And where were Ding-How, Ah-So, and Mi-Tu? Have you ever wondered what your pets do when youre away at school or hanging out with your friends? You just might be surprised if you knew about their secret lives! In this fantasy, you will discover what a pet hamster, white mouse, and Siamese cat do while their human children are at school. Meet Ding-How, a very wise hamster; Ah-So, a mischievous little mouse; and Mi-Tu, a most dignified and brave cat. Follow their Magic Wheel into adventure, danger, and discovery. Each new adventure challenges them to work together in order to solve their predicament. In the process, they soon realize how much they depend on each other. Laugh at their encounters with a seagull and a giant nutcracker. Feel the heat of a volcano, and look with them at the awesome dancing lights in the dark northern sky. Marvel with Ding-How, Ah-So, and Mi-Tu as they discover the wonders of the Great Creator, who made the heavens and the Earth. Join them, as they journey to Bethlehem, where they learn the true meaning of Christmas. Come along! Dont delay! Travel with them on their wonderful Magic Wheel of adventure and discovery!

It is sometime after the turn of the century in Lamptown, Ohio, a working-class town filled with factory girls. Every Thursday night at the Casino Dance Hall above Bauer's Chop House and across the street from Elsinore Abbott's Bon Ton Hat Shop and Bill Delaney's Saloon and Billiard Parlor, women and a few men gather to escape their pedestrian lives in fantasy, and sometimes to live out these fantasies. Observing all are the novel's two young protagonists, Morry, who dreams of becoming an architect and developer, and Jen, an unsentimental orphan of fourteen who, abandoned by her mother, dreams of escape.

This scathing “comedy of manners” set in the 1940s “steers us through the lives of women who come to New York . . . for love, money, opportunity, and a good time” (New York Times). At the center of this 1942 novel are a wealthy, self-involved newspaper publisher and his scheming, novelist wife, Amanda Keeler—who ensnares Ohioan Vicky Haven in her social and romantic manipulations. Author Dawn Powell always denied Amanda Keeler was based upon the real-life Clare Boothe Luce until years later when she discovered a memo she’d written to herself in 1939 that said, “Why not do a novel on Clare Luce?” Which prompted Powell to write in her diary, “Who can I believe? Me or myself?” Set against an atmospheric backdrop of New York City in the months just before America’ s entry into World War II, A Time of Be Born is a scathing and hilarious study of cynical New Yorkers stalking each other for various selfish ends.

My Home is Far Away is the most precisely autobiographical of Powell’s fifteen novels. In this family chronicle set in early twentieth century Ohio, young Marcia Willard’s family struggles to keep up with the rapidly changing times, and Marcia endures disillusionment, cruelty, and betrayal to forge a survivor’s sense of independence. John Updike has compared Powell with Theodore Dreiser, Willa Cather, Sherwood Anderson, “and those other Midwestern writers who felt something epic in the national shift from rural to urban, from provincial sequestration to metropolitan liberation.” By 1941, when Powell set to work on My Home Is Far Away, she was better known for the smart, boozy, bawdy, hilarious send-ups of Manhattan high and low life. She had begun to attain a reputation for high sophistication and nothing could be less “sophisticated” – in the glittering, all-knowing, furiously present-tense, big-city manner Powell had perfected – than My Home Is Far Away. This was the month of cherries and peaches, of green apples beyond the grape arbor, of little dandelion ghosts in the grass, of sour grass and four-leaf clovers, of still dry heat holding the smell of nasturtiums and dying lilacs. This was the best month of all and the best day. It was not birthday, Easter, Christmas, or picnic, but all these things and something else, something wonderful, something utterly unknown. The two little girls in embroidered white Sunday dresses knew no way to express their secret joy but by whirling each other dizzily over the lawn crying, “We’re moving, we’re moving! We’re moving to London Junction!” My Home Is Far Away is one of the very few examples of a book written for adults, with an adult command of the language, that maintains the vantage point of a hungry, serious child throughout. It might be likened to a memoir that has been penned not with the usual tranquility of distance but rather with the sense that everything happening to the characters is happening right now, without any promise of eventual escape, without any assurance that childhood, too, shall pass away. My Home is Far Away had been out of print for sixty years when Steerforth reissued it in 1995. It received immediate widespread acclaim, and was featured on the cover of the New York Times Book Review, where Terry Teachout called it “one of the permanent masterpieces of childhood, comparable with David Copperfield, What Maisie Knew and the early reminiscences of Colette,” and where he proclaimed Powell to be “one of this country’s least recognized great novelists.”

Everyone in Dawn Powell's New York satire Angels on Toast is on the make: Lou Donovan, the entrepeneur who ricochets frantically between his well-connected current wife, his disreputable ex, and his dangerously greedy mistress; Trina Kameray, the exotic adventuress whose job title is as phony as her accent; T.V. Truesdale, the man with the aristocratic manner, the fourteen-dollar suit, and the hyperactive eye for the main chance. A dizzyingly fast-paced and deliriously entertaining novel.

Yale Classics (Vol. 1) marks an unprecedented assemblage of the luminaries of Ancient Greek literature, philosophy, and historiography, presenting a rich tapestry of the intellectual and creative brilliance that has shaped not only Western literature but also the very foundation of Western thought. This collection spans a breathtaking range of genresfrom the philosophical dialogues of Plato and Aristotle to the epic poetry of Homer, the tragic dramas of Sophocles and Euripides, and the historical narratives of Herodotus and Thucydides. Each work is a testament to the diversity and depth of ancient Greek literary and philosophical tradition, offering readers a glimpse into the myriad ways the ancients grappled with themes of power, morality, fate, and virtue. Noteworthy are the poetic fragments of Sappho and Anacreon, which provide a rare insight into the lyrical expressions of personal emotion, influencing countless generations thereafter. The contributing authors and editors, revered not only for their foundational roles in literature and philosophy but also for their profound impact on the development of Western cultural and intellectual history, emerge from varied backgrounds but share a common heritage of profound insight into the complexity of the human condition and the world. Their collective works represent the confluence of literary genius and philosophical inquiry that defines the Classical era, engaging with themes of heroism, governance, ethics, and aesthetics. This anthology aligns with and celebrates significant historical and cultural movements, encapsulating the essence of the Classical period in a way that no single author could. Culminating in an invitation to modern readers, Yale Classics (Vol. 1) offers an unparalleled opportunity to engage with the seminal works that have not only laid the groundwork for Western thought but continue to challenge and inspire. It beckons to those eager to explore the roots of contemporary culture, ethics, and politics through the lens of ancient wisdom. As such, this volume is an indispensable resource for students, scholars, and anyone with an interest in the endurance of classical themes in modern times, providing a unique dialogue between epochs and glittering testimony to the enduring legacy of Ancient Greek civilization.