Satire
Damn! A Book of Calumny
Henry Louis "H. L." Mencken (1880 – 1956) was an American journalist, essayist, magazine editor, satirist, acerbic critic of Ameri…
A Tale of a Tub
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…
The Voyage Out
Rachel Vinrace embarks for South America on her father's ship and is launched on a course of self-discovery in a kind of modern mythical voy…
The Dragon of Wantley
Set against the backdrop of a festive Christmas, The Dragon of Wantley weaves a humorous and adventurous tale that centers on a noble Baron,…
An Essay on the Art of Ingeniously Tormenting
An Essay on the Art of Ingeniously Tormenting was a conduct book written by Jane Collier and published in 1753. The Essay was Collier's firs…
The Crocodile
Ivan Matveich, the most ordinary person you might hope to meet, is swallowed alive by a crocodile at a sideshow. Finding life inside the be…
The School for Husbands
In 1661 and 1662 Moliere presented the plays The School for Husbands (this one) and then The School for Wives. "The central situations …
Don Juan
These are the last four Cantos of his mock epic that Byron completed in the year before his death at the age of 36 in Messolonghi, Greece, w…
Froth
Clementina is losing her youth in the fashionable world of late-nineteenth century Madrid and takes a younger lover. Meanwhile her father, t…
Joan and Peter
This is satirical look at the English educational system and society in the early twentieth century and the effect of World War I on them by…
The Battle of the Books
"The Battle of the Books" depicts a literal battle between books in the King's Library (housed in St James's Palace at the time of…
A Battle of the Books
"When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for an author to dissolve the bands which have connected him with his publis…
A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder
"A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder" is the most popular of James De Mille's works. It was serialized posthumously in…
The Wit and Humor of America
The Wit and Humor of America invites listeners to explore a rich tapestry of American wit through a curated collection of short stories and …
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…
What Not
The Great War is finished: England is once more at peace. What can have caused such a War, except stupidity? What, if not intelligence, can …
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…
Wives as They Were, Maids as They Are
This Restoration-Era comedy of manners satirizes the hypocrisy, gamesmanship, and imbalance of power inherent in the institution of marriage…
The Life and Adventures of Sir Launcelot Greaves
Sir Launcelot Greaves goes around the country with his comic squire, trying to be a knight and perform good deeds. This novel is written in…
Curiosities of Street Literature
This is a collection of broadsides from London. Broadsides are short, popular publications, a precursor to today's tabloid journalism. The c…