Jonathan Swift (Gulliver’s Travels, A Modest Proposal) wrote A Tale of a Tub (published in 1704) not only to expound upon the hypocrisy of religion in early 18th century England, but to explore ideas about critics, oration, ancient and modern philosophies, digressions, and the nature of writing itself. These themes are all underscored with a satirical tone that takes religion, authors, and critics to task. The title refers to the tub that sailors used to... Read A Tale Of A Tub Summary

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A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail is a 1998 travel book by American-British author Bill Bryson. The book was a New York Times bestseller, and a 2014 Cable News Network (CNN) poll named it the funniest travel book ever written. In addition, it inspired the 2015 film A Walk in the Woods starring Robert Redford as Bryson, Nick Nolte as Stephen Katz (his primary hiking companion), and Emma Thompson as... Read A Walk in the Woods Summary

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A Woman of No Importance is a play by Oscar Wilde that was first performed in 1893. It is one of Wilde’s four drawing room plays, which satirize English high society, but critics often consider this play to be his least successful. The action of the play takes place at a party held at Lady Hunstanton’s English country estate and depicts the conflict that arises when Lord Illingworth, a wealthy and charming aristocrat, encounters his... Read A Woman of No Importance Summary

A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck was published in 2000 by Puffin. Written for middle grade readers, the novel revisits the Great Depression, documenting its impact on the rural Midwest with a seriocomic account of 15-year-old Mary Alice Dowdel, who is forced to leave her home in Chicago and live in the country with her eccentric grandmother for a year. By turns farcical, romantic, satirical, and somber, Peck’s novel explores themes including The Challenges... Read A Year Down Yonder Summary

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Barefoot in the Park is a 1963 play by Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright Neil Simon (The Odd Couple, Lost in Yonkers). Born in the Bronx in 1927, Simon grew up during the Depression. Financial strains characteristic of the time caused tension in his parents’ marriage, and Simon sought escape at the movies, with comedic films in particular. Laughter and comedy served as emotional balms for him, as they do in his semi-autobiographical plays. His plays... Read Barefoot In The Park Summary

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Written by Fredrik Backman in 2017, Beartown is the first of a trilogy and is followed by the similarly hockey-themed novels, Us Against You (2017) and The Winners (2021). All three novels are set in the town of the same name, and Beartown focuses on the local junior hockey team, the in-game success or failure of which deeply impacts the economy of the town as a whole. As the town's intense focus on the sport... Read Beartown Summary

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Polish-born author Jerzy Kosiński (1933-1991) wrote Being There, published in 1970. The novella satirizes mid-20th-century politics and culture, focusing on the twin pillars of bureaucracy and the media as vehicles for the deterioration of modern thought. Kosiński grew up in Soviet-controlled Poland and came to the United States in 1957. In 1958, he was awarded a Ford Foundation fellowship. He studied at the New School and Columbia University in New York, where he received a... Read Being There Summary

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Be More Chill (2004) by Ned Vizzini is a young adult novel about a teenage boy trying to increase his social status in high school. The work employs humor and a science fiction premise to satirize the absurdity of social norms in contemporary youth culture. The main character, Jeremy Heere, is a socially awkward high school student who ingests a pill that contains a quantum supercomputer that advises him on how to modify his behavior... Read Be More Chill Summary

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Content Warning: Better Nate Than Ever contains sensitive material, such as bullying and LGBTQ-related slurs.Better Nate Than Ever (2013) is the first book in a trilogy about Broadway hopeful Nate Foster; the next two titles in the series are Five, Six, Seven, Nate! (2014) and Nate Expectations (2018). The novel is intended for middle grade and young adult readers but may also appeal to adult fans of theater-related fiction. Author Tim Federle and the fictional... Read Better Nate Than Ever Summary

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