Satire
The Wonderful Visit
Read by Mary Bard
H. G. Wells
An other-worldly creature visits a small English village, and H. G. Wells uses humour and satire to convey some of the imperfections of Vict…
The Rape of the Lock
Read by Rhonda Federman
Alexander Pope
The Rape of the Lock is a mock-heroic narrative poem written by Alexander Pope, first published anonymously in Lintot's Miscellany in May 17…
Fifty-One Tales
Read by Thomas A. Copeland
Lord Dunsany
Very brief, well-crafted stories, many having surprise endings, all steeped in the dye of myth and calling to every reader's neglected imagi…
Alice in Blunderland: an Iridescent Dream
Read by Ruth Golding
John Kendrick Bangs
From Alice in Blunderland: "Certain of our members claim that they have a right to sell their votes for $500 apiece--" "Mercy…
Mark Twain’s Journal Writings, Volume 2
Read by John Greenman
Mark Twain
This second collection of essays by Mark Twain is a good example of the diversity of subject matter about which he wrote. As with the essays…
The Small House at Allington
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Anthony Trollope
Fifth novel in the Barsetshire series, The Small House at Allington is largely focused on the Small House's inhabitants, Mrs. Dale and her t…
Orley Farm
Read by Leonard Wilson (1930-2024)
Anthony Trollope
Orley Farm is Trollope at his best (as good as the Barsetshire series), which means some of the best characterizations in the English langua…
The Calico Cat (version 2)
Read by Mark F. Smith
Charles Miner Thompson
The consequences of letting your irritation get the better of you are humorously portrayed in this story of a self-important man who fires a…
Oblomov
Read by Kevin W. Davidson
Ivan Goncharov
Oblomov is the best known novel by Russian writer Ivan Goncharov, first published in 1859. Oblomov is also the central character of the nove…
The Way of All Flesh
Read by Rhonda Federman
Samuel Butler
The Way of All Flesh (1903) is a semi-autobiographical novel by Samuel Butler which attacks Victorian-era hypocrisy. Written between 1873 an…
Nightmare Abbey
Read by Mark F. Smith
Thomas Love Peacock
Deep in the fens of the British coast sits the gloomy mansion that goes by the name Nightmare Abbey. It is inhabited by persons of very low …
The Autobiography of Methuselah
Read by Matthew Reece
John Kendrick Bangs
A satirical look at early biblical events from the point of view of someone who was there to witness most of them: the oldest man in recorde…
Castle Rackrent
Read by NoelBadrian
Maria Edgeworth
"One of the most inspired chronicles written in English" was the verdict of William Butler Yeats on the novel Castle Rackrent by M…
Miss Mapp
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
E. F. Benson
E. F. Benson's Mapp and Lucia series, consists of six novels and three short stories. The novels are: Queen Lucia, Lucia in London, Miss Map…
The Gentle Grafter
Read by Leslie Walden
O. Henry
If Jefferson "Parleyvoo" Pickens had appeared in print just a few years later, he might have been the "Gentle Grifter" i…
John Dene of Toronto; a Comedy of Whitehall
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Herbert George Jenkins
John Dene comes to England with a great invention, and the intention of gingering-up the Admiralty. His directness and unconventional method…
A Tale of a Tub
Read by Edmund Bloxam
Jonathan Swift
A Tale of a Tub was the first major work written by Jonathan Swift, composed between 1694 and 1697, that was eventually published in 1704. I…
Cinderella
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
George Calderon
If you are expecting glass slippers and pumpkin coaches, look elsewhere... This is "a pantomime as Ibsen would have written it, if only…
The Unbearable Bassington
Read by NoelBadrian
Saki
The Unbearable Bassington was the first novel written by Saki (H. H. Munro). It also contains much of the elegant wit found in his short sto…
The Gilded Age, A Tale of Today
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Mark Twain
The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today is an 1873 novel by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner that satirizes greed and political corruption in po…