All About Books

Title: What is Man & Other Essays Author: Mark Twain Librivox Audiobook app Read by John Greenman (10 hr 37 min) What is Man & Other Essays is a collection of philosophical reflections and social commentaries that reveal his skeptical and probing mind.  The central essay, What is Man, is written in the form of a dialogue between a Young Man and an Old Man .  The Old Man argues that human beings are essentially machines, driven not by free will but by training, habit, and self-interest.  He insists that every action is motivated by the desire to satisfy personal needs, whether material or emotional, and that altruism itself is only a refined form of self-gratification.  The Young Man challenges these views, but the Old Man’s reasoning is relentless, presenting a deterministic view of human nature that questions traditional ideas of morality and freedom. Other essays in the volume expand Twain’s critique of society, religion, and politics.  He often e...

  Title: Why You Should Store Your Farts in a Jar Author: David Haviland Publisher: Tarcher/Penguin, New York Year published: 2010 262 pages Why did people believe that keeping farts in a jar could ward off the black Death ? The Black Death was one of the deadliest plagues in human history. Between 1348 and 1350 it killed around 1.5 million people in Britain, out of a population of just 4 million. The plague was characterized by unpleasant black buboes that would form in the victims' groin, neck, and armpits, oozing pus and blood. It caused fever, nausea, and vomiting, and most victims died within four to seven days of becoming infected. There were regular outbreaks of plague about once every generation, until the last major outbreak in 1665, the Great Plague of London . Medicine of this period was based upon principles that had been around since the ancient Greeks, including the simple tenet that "like cures like." Since it was believed that the plague was caused by dead...

Title: War Author: Roald Dahl Publisher: Penguin Books, London Year published: 2017 336 pages Roald Dahl’s War is a powerful, largely autobiographical collection that chronicles his intense and often harrowing experiences serving as a fighter pilot for the Royal Air Force during the early years of World War II .  The narrative begins shortly before the outbreak of conflict, depicting Dahl's comfortable but unchallenging life working for the Shell Oil Company in Tanganyika, East Africa .  This period of relative colonial calm is abruptly shattered by the declaration of war, prompting his swift journey to Nairobi to enlist in the RAF .  His initial flight training is described with a keen eye for detail, capturing the sudden, life-altering transition from civilian life to the rigors and dangers of military aviation, establishing the fundamental shift in his reality. The core of the book details his deployment to the Middle East theater . One of the most critical episodes...

  Title: Madness Author: Roald Dahl Publisher: Penguin Books, London Year published: 2016 256 pages “Madness” is a collection of ten unsettling short stories for adults, first compiled in 2016 as part of a centenary edition of his darker tales.  The book delves into the chilling consequences of losing control—of one’s life, but more profoundly, of one’s own mind—exploring the fine, often domestic, line between sanity and irrationality.  Dahl uses his signature blend of suspense, dark humor, and macabre plot twists to examine themes of obsession, psychological breakdown, and the hidden cruelties lurking beneath polite society. The stories are characterized by ordinary settings and seemingly normal people whose hidden anxieties, eccentric desires, or sudden fixations lead to bizarre and frequently fatal outcomes.  One of the central pieces, “ The Way Up to Heaven ,” focuses on a wealthy, elderly woman with a crippling, pathological obsession with punctuality.  Her...