Portfolio 2 Columns

First published anonymously in January 1776, Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense became a colonial bestseller. In a would-be nation of 4 million, some 150,000 copies were sold. That’s the equivalent of selling 12 million copies in today’s United States. It was sold and distributed widely and read aloud at taverns and meeting places. In proportion to the population of the colonies at that time it had the largest sale and circulation of any book published in American history. As of 2006, it remains the all-time best-selling American title and is still in print today.

Coming Up for Air is the seventh book by English writer George Orwell, published in June 1939 by Victor Gollancz. It was written between 1938 and 1939 while Orwell spent time recuperating from illness in French Morocco, mainly in Marrakesh. He delivered the completed manuscript to Victor Gollancz upon his return to London in March 1939. The story follows George Bowling, a 45-year-old husband, father, and insurance salesman, who foresees World War II and attempts to recapture idyllic childhood innocence and escape his dreary life by returning to Lower Binfield, his birthplace. The novel is comical and pessimistic, with its views that (a) speculative builders, commercialism, and capitalism are killing the best of rural England, and (b) his country is facing the sinister appearance of new, external national threats.

Eden Giuliano presents a brand-new line of exciting children’s stories from Icon! R.K. Munkittrick (1853-1911), was the Editor of “Judge” 1901-1906 which included Gus Dirk’s famous cartoons in the pages of “Judge” and wrote the verses to accompany “Bugville Life.” Here is a delightful classic tail sure to delight children of all ages. A fast-moving fun story with lots of surprises guaranteed to elicit a lot of wide-eyed Wonder from the little ones we all love. A true family audio treasure! Sharing wonderful stories between the generations is one of the surest ways to bring a family closer together and keep them that way. Here is an audiobook beautifully crafted in the grandest tradition of fine young people’s literature. I must have for every family!

Civil Disobedience is an essay by American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau that was first published in 1849. In it, Thoreau argues that individuals should not permit governments to overrule or atrophy their consciences, and that they have a duty to avoid allowing such acquiescence to enable the government to make them the agents of injustice. Thoreau was motivated in part by his disgust with slavery and the Mexican–American War.
Henry David Thoreau was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading transcendentalist, he is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay “Civil Disobedience” (originally published as “Resistance to Civil Government”), an argument for disobedience to an unjust state.

Here is a charming collection of stories, mostly set in New England in the 1800s, that depict how Christmas was celebrated then. Seems that Christmas was not always a tree with dozens, if not hundreds, of gifts spread around the tree. Consumerism not being then what it is today, the gift might simply be a letter from a long-missing loved one, or simply the return through a blizzard of a husband who had left only hours ago on a mission of mercy. The relief of the anxiety of waiting for the person or merely news that the loved one had survived was often the best gift to be had. There are sleigh rides, caroling through the night and selfless giving to fill one with the warmth and joy of the season. A true old-fashioned holiday treasure

“A heartfelt and lovely Christmas tale for kids, moms, dads and book lovers everywhere!” New York Times

Giuliano’s near lifelong journal of prose, poetry, and drawings started while still in university in the mid-1970s. A moving collection of the evocative dreams of a young man searching for his life in the shadow of the American dream, which ultimately over took him.

The iconic revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara is featured in this unique, original audiobook by popular historian Geoffrey Giuliano. In this must-have compendium on the life, times, words, and wisdom of the heralded physician soldier, here is an ultra-rare collection of not only impossible-to-find interviews and speeches, but also a unique celebration of what would’ve been Che’s 90th birthday. Che Guevara’s stirring words and iconic persona strike at the very heart of the turbulent times in which we now live. Perfect for all university and school systems. Contents: Revisiting Radio Rebelde A brief Che biography Interview April 1964 (French with English introduction) Che’s complete speech delivered before the United Nations, New York, December 11, 1964 (Spanish with English introduction) The comandante’s finest thoughts Viva Che! A 90th birthday celebration.