A precious scroll inscribed with a lost Buddhist sutra—once owned by Pu Yi, the last emperor of China—is illicitly sold to an eccentric French linguist, Paul d’Ampere, who is imprisoned as a result. In jail, he devotes himself to studying its ancient text.
 
A young Western scholar in China hears this account from the grocer Toomchooq, whose name mysteriously connects him to the document. She falls in love with both

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Inspired by real events and meticulously researched by Zola, Money is, in the wake of recent financial scandals, an all-too-topical exploration of the dynamics of greed, the excesses of capitalism and its dangerous relationship with politics and the press.

Marcel Proust's 'In Search of Lost Time' is considered by many to be the greatest novel of the twentieth century. The fourth volume, 'Sodom and Gomorrah', is notable for its pioneering discussion of homosexuality. After publication, Colette wrote Proust: "No one has written pages such as these on homosexuals, no one!" This edition is edited and annotated by Proust scholar William C. Carter, who endeavors to bring the classic C. K. Scott Moncrieff...

These three long stories draw us into the lives of three women, all past their first youth, all facing unexpected crises. In the title story, the heroine's serenity is shattered when she learns that her husband is having an affair. In "The Age of Discretion," a successful, happily married professor finds herself increasingly distressed by her son's absorption in his young wife and her worldly values. In "The Monologue," a rich, spoiled woman, home...

A nihilistic petit-bougeois named Bardamu opens his medical practice in the slums of suburban Paris.

Lisa travels on an airplane by herself to visit her uncle in New York.

Caustic and hilarious, Candide has ranked as one of the world's great satires since its first publication in 1759. It concerns the adventures of the youthful Candide, disciple of Dr. Pangloss, who was himself a disciple of Leibniz. In the course of his travels and adventures in Europe and South America, Candide saw and suffered such misfortune that it was difficult for him to believe this was "the best of all possible worlds" as Dr. Pangloss had assured...