Satire
Widowers' Houses
This is one of three plays Shaw published as Plays Unpleasant in 1898; they were termed "unpleasant" because they were intended, n…
The Celebrity
The Celebrity is a sharp satire that explores the complexities of fame and the literary world through the lens of a young novelist's rise to…
The Follies of a Day
This is Thomas Holcroft's English translation, obtained by attending Pierre Beaumarchais' French play nine times in Paris during its origina…
The Inheritance
"As the noblest attribute of man, family pride had been cherished time immemorial by the noble race of Rossville. Deep and incurable, t…
Cynthia's Revels
"Cynthia's Revels," the second "comical satire," was acted in 1600, and, as a play, is even more lengthy, elaborate, and…
Bill Nye and Boomerang
Humorist Bill Nye was the first editor of the daily paper in Laramie, Wyoming, and named it the Laramie Boomerang in honor of his mule. As …
Are Women People?
A collection of poetry and some other short works by suffragist Alice Duer MIller. Many of these satirical works were first published in the…
A Traveller from Altruria
Set in the early 1890s, at a fashionable summer resort somewhere on the East Coast of the United States, this book tells the story of Mr. T…
The Silly Syclopedia
The Silly Syclopedia is a whimsical exploration of language and humor, crafted by Noah Lott and George V. Hobart. This playful work parodies…
Love and Freindship
Love and Freindship [sic] is a juvenile story by Jane Austen, dated 1790, when Austen was 14 years old. Love and Freindship (the misspelling…
The Notary's Nose
Ironic and Satirical: A successful Parisian notary, Alfred L’Ambert, is smitten with a fourteen-year-old ballet dancer. After a quarrel, his…
Cinderella
If you are expecting glass slippers and pumpkin coaches, look elsewhere... This is "a pantomime as Ibsen would have written it, if only…
Mrs. Pretty and The Premier
The Premier has decided that being married would be good for his image. He asks his stenographer for advice: (Premier) Good. Just jot me dow…
The Judgment of Eve
May Sinclair was a prolific author, literary critic, and feminist activist, famous in Britain and the US in the 1910’s and 20’s. The Judgmen…
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
In Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions—written by Edwin Abbott Abbott—readers are presented with a question. What if the world were flat?…
Candida
This play tells the story of Candida, the wife of a famous clergyman, the Reverend James Mavor Morell. Morell is a Christian Socialist, po…
The Magnificent Lovers
"The King [Louis XIV], who will have nothing but what is magnificent in all he undertakes, wished to give his court an entertainment wh…
The Wit and Humor of America
The Wit and Humor of America is a delightful anthology that captures the essence of American wit through a collection of 55 short stories an…
The History of Pompey the Little
"Pompey, the son of Julio and Phyllis, was born A.D. 1735, at Bologna in Italy, a place famous for lap-dogs and sausages." At an e…
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang
"Captain Billy's Whiz Bang" was an iconic magazine of wit and humor launched by W.H. Fawcett in 1919. Each 64-page issue was packe…