Satire
A Modest Proposal
Jonathan Swift almost defines satire in this biting and brutal pamphlet in which he suggests that poor (Catholic) Irish families should fatt…
Gorgias
This dialogue brings Socrates face to face with the famous sophist Gorgias and his followers. It is a work likely completed around the time …
Alice in Blunderland
From Alice in Blunderland: "Certain of our members claim that they have a right to sell their votes for $500 apiece--" "Mercy…
Oblomov
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 Wonderful Visit
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…
Self and Self-management
Bennett's essays always provide food for thought and bring a wry smile to the lips. Human nature, it appears, changes little over the ages, …
The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg
The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg is a sharp and satirical exploration of morality and hypocrisy, penned by the renowned Mark Twain. Set in …
That Unfortunate Marriage
This is the funny, romantic, slightly tongue-in-cheek story of how little May Cheffington makes her way in the world despite being the sole …
Knickerbocker's History of New York
Washington Irving, an author, biographer, historian, and diplomat, completed his first major work, a satire of contemporary local history an…
Hard Times
Hard Times, the shortest of Dickens's full-length novels, is set in the fictitious Victorian-England city of Coketown, where facts are the r…
Ward No. 6
The line between sanity and insanity is blurred in this classic novella by Anton Chekhov. The disillusioned idealist Dr. Rabin is in charge…
The Priceless Pearl
Pearl Leavitt is habitually fired from her New York City office jobs for being "too beautiful" and thereby causing all the men to …
Miss Mapp
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…
Gulliver's Travels
Gulliver's Travels is a satirical adventure that takes readers on a journey through fantastical lands, exploring the absurdities of human na…
The Way of All Flesh
The Way of All Flesh (1903) is a semi-autobiographical novel by Samuel Butler which attacks Victorian-era hypocrisy. Written between 1873 an…
Little Dorrit
Born in the Marshalsea Prison for Debtors, Amy—Little Dorrit—the daughter of the ruined, but self-respectful William Dorrit, has put her ent…
The Idiot
The Idiot is anything but, yet his fellow boarders at Mrs. Smithers-Pedagog’s home for single gentlemen see him as such. His brand of creati…
The Rape of the Lock
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…
The Inspector-General
The Governor and Officials of a small provincial town in Russia are worried. They have received word that a Government Inspector is on his w…
The Flying Inn
The Flying Inn is a novel first published in 1914 by G.K. Chesterton. It is set in a future England where a bizarre form of "Progressiv…