Collects descriptions of dreams as recorded by numerous different authors.

The Oxford Book of American Essays serves as a masterful curation of American thought and narrative style, chronicling the nations burgeoning literary identity from its infancy through to the dawn of the 20th century. This collection showcases the rich diversity and dynamic evolution of the American essay, featuring works that span from the foundational philosophies of Emerson and Thoreau to the intricate narratives of Hawthorne and Poe. The anthology shines a light on the varied tapestry of American thought, highlighting seminal pieces that have contributed significantly to the literary and cultural landscape of the United States. The contributing authors and editors, themselves pioneers of the American literary scene, bring forth a compendium that is as varied in its contributors as it is unified in its theme. These figures, from Whitman with his expansive poetic vision to Franklins keen observational wit, collectively embody the multifaceted nature of American discourse. Their backgrounds, ranging from the self-made intellectual to the seasoned statesman, provide a panoramic view of Americas intellectual heritage, reflecting key movements such as Transcendentalism, Romanticism, and Realism. This anthology invites readers on a journey through the depths of the American psyche, offering a unique opportunity to engage with the seminal works that have shaped the nations literary and cultural trajectory. For scholars, students, and enthusiasts of American literature, The Oxford Book of American Essays is an indispensable resource that fosters an appreciation for the richness and diversity of American thought. It stands not only as a testament to the individual genius of its contributors but also as a vibrant dialogue across generations, serving as a beacon for those who wish to delve deeper into the essence of American literary tradition.

"The Oxford Book of American Essays" is a diverse collection of carefully-selected essays by notable and influential American writers and essayists. With contributions from such seminal figures as Washington Irvine, Francis Hopkinson, and Benjamin Franklin, this is a book that will appeal to all lovers of the English Language, and one that would make for a worthy addition to any collection. Contents include: "The Ephemera: An Emblem Of Human Life", "The Whistle", "Dialogue Between Franklin And The Gout", "Consolation For The Old Bachelor", "John Bull", "The Mutability Of Literature", "Kean's Acting", "On A Certain Condescension In Foreigners", etc. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.

This essay appeared originally in the Atlantic Monthly for May, 1883. During the thirty years which have elapsed since it was written the manifestations of the colonial spirit then apparent in the United States have not only altered in character but, I am glad to say, have weakened, diminished, and become less noticeable. Since 1883, also, there has been much achieved by Americans in Art and Literature, in painting, in sculpture, in music, and particularly in architecture. Success in all these fields has, with few exceptions, been won by men working in the spirit which is not colonial, but which it was the purpose of this essay to inculcate as the true one to which alone we could look for fine and enduring achievement. I have called attention to the date at which the essay was written in order that those who read it may remember that it applies in certain points to the conditions of thirty years ago and not to those of the present day.

Beginning with the first writings to assimilate and rework Western literary traditions, through the flourishing of the short story genre in the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the Taisho era, to the new breed of writers produced under the constraints of literary censorship, and the current writings reflecting the pitfalls and paradoxes of modern life, this anthology offers a stimulating survey of the entire development of the Japanese short story.

This is a collection of stories in which nightmares and bad dreams are an essential part of the plot. In some stories the nightmare parallels or predicts events in waking life. In others, the nightmare takes over and the dreamer cannot get back to reality. There are also other stories which have a nightmarish quality to them. The characters are trapped and unable to make an escape.

The supernatural has this in common with nature: you may drive it out with a pitchfork, but it will constantly come running back. At a time when science and technology are proving ambivalent in their effects and institutionalized religion is weakened by self-inflicted wounds, interest in its manifestations is insatiable. This sweeping anthology presents material in which, touchingly, eerily or bizarrely, the supernatural and the natural meet and ignite, illuminating our deepest anxieties, frailties, and hopes. While chiefly concerned with specific instances, it gives due weight to the views of philosophers and fanatics, of men of letters and the man in the street, and of lovers and lost souls. Mixing what is advanced as fact with what is offered as fiction, it takes in hauntings both malignant and benign, magic, vampires and other popular monsters, witches and fairies, the devil seeking whom he may devour, sex and the supernatural, dreams and coincidences, daemonic influences in art, comedies of the occult, near-death, experiences and after-death expectations. The closing section sums up the war between believers and disbelievers and touches on the processes of reading and of writing about the subject. Testimonies cited are ancient and modern, drawn from East and West, from Christian, Islamic, and Buddhist sources, and range from Homer to Hardy, Pliny to Primo Levi, Apuleius to A. S. Byatt, through Rabelais, Shakespeare, Johnson, Goethe, Dickens, George Eliot, Flaubert, Kipling, Yeats, Rebecca West, and many others, including some who, like Browning's medium, Mr Sludge, find a little cheating comparable to the china egg that prompts a hen to lay a real one. For fervent believers andsceptics alike, there can be no more magical compendium than this.

Redefines the great canon of American poetry from its origins in the 17th century right up to the present.