Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

When true literary geniuses leave their mark on the writing world, they often make it seem effortless. We mere mortals are left to ponder, “How is it that one person wrote War and Peace when I can barely get out of the house wearing matching shoes?” But it all begins to make a little more sense […]

There’s nothing like parental supervision to quash potential adventure. That’s why there’s a rich tradition of unsupervised children in literature. Here are five terrific novels about what happens when the parents exit stage right. Back To Top

While extremely difficult childhoods are an understandable conceit in novels (there’s nothing more boring than a healthy, happy upbringing), some stories are so intense, it’s amazing to imagine the kids involved actually survived to adulthood—if they did, at that. These 10 books detail really crummy childhoods. We’re surprised any of these kids made it out alive. Back To […]

Revision is a vital aspect of creation; all authors delete, re-write, and occasionally burn entire manuscripts with tears streaming down their faces. Most of the time, deleted chapters occur so early in the writing process that they’re not relevant—or interesting. They’re just the cost of doing literary business. Sometimes, though, the story behind excised material […]