M - Book Reviews - Titles in Literature

Mark Twain: Gilded Age and Later Novels
This "Gilded Age" collection encompasses Mark Twain's literary career, starting with his first work, "The Gilded Age" ... and carrying us through to his final work, "The Mysterious Stranger," which was left in manuscript format upon his death.

Mayor of Casterbridge, The
Rick Moody writes, "When the novel, as a form, strays too far from that quantum mystery of how paradoxically and erratically emotions are felt and lives lived, some movement comes along to right the course of the vessel, and "The Mayor of Casterbridge "is one such rectification."

McCullers: Complete Novels
In her novels, Carson McCullers lets us see into the lives of characters who are lonely, outcast, or just confused. These unforgettable characters brought her critical acclaim and awards, and they also appeared in a play and movie (in the case of "The Member of the Wedding").

Measure of Life
As Marder writes, "Her fame as a novelist and a woman of letters had partly eclipsed the memory of her suicide attempt--it was an old story, sixteen years had gone by since then. But she still lived close to the edge; she could blunder into an emotional whirlpool and be sucked under for good."

Midnight Dreary
This book is a fun read, and will at the very least provide you with interesting trivia about the last days of Edgar Allan Poe.

Moll Flanders
As Duchan Caudill writes, "Defoe presents 'Moll Flanders' in the guise of an autobiography, written by a woman of advanced years. Defoe was adroit at creating a narrative, relaying the details of this life from a woman's point of view."

Mrs. Dalloway
"Mrs. Dalloway" follows Clarissa Dalloway (a 52-year-old woman living in London) through her day, as she prepares for her party that evening. The years since the book was first published in 1925 have been kind to the novel. It has been adapted into a movie, and Michael Cunningham has time warped Woolf's book into his novel "The Hours."