Arnold Bennett

Are you really 'living', or just existing? Do you want to improve yourself or just continue to muddle through? Do you use the time given you each day, or just throw most of it away? These questions Bennett asks each of us and for those who want to really live and learn, offers very valuable advice. Time is the most precious of commodities, states Bennett in this book. Many books have been written on how to live on a certain amount of money each day....

The book consists of four volumes containing coming of age novels set in the Midlands of Victorian England. The story follows Edwin Clayhanger as he leaves school, takes over the family business, and falls in love. The second novel Hilda Lessways tells the story from her coming of age, her working experiences as a shorthand clerk and keeper of a lodging house in London and Brighton. These Twain, the third in the Clayhanger series, chronicles the married...

This antiquarian volume contains an essay by Arnold Bennett on the subject of mental efficiency. This text is typical of the numerous self-improvement essays and books that Bennett wrote alongside his famous fiction work, and it is a text that, although old, still contains much that will amuse and edify the modern reader. A must-have for fans and collectors of Bennett's work, this book would make for a worthy addition to any collection. The chapters...

First published in 1907, The Ghost was the first of many "fantasias on modern times" written by Arnold Bennett. These illustrated his ability to produce not only realistic novels, perfected in his portrayals of provincial English life set in the Staffordshire scenery of his childhood, but also more sensational stories, written after his move to London where he developed a far more cosmopolitan interest. A supernatural story, The Ghost tells the tale...

In the Five Towns human nature is reported to be so hard that you can break stones on it. Yet sometimes it softens, and then we have one of our rare idylls of which we are very proud, while pretending not to be. The soft and delicate South would possibly not esteem highly our idylls, as such. Nevertheless they are our idylls, idyllic for us, and reminding us, by certain symptoms, that though we never cry there is concealed somewhere within our bodies...

Published in 1918, the fourth and last book of the Clayhanger series, The Roll-Call, follows the young life of George, Edwin Clayhanger's stepson who becomes the architect his stepfather had wished to be. Unabashedly confident, George mounts the social ladder and in the end, we find him enlisting for active service.

In a characteristic for Arnold Bennett humorous style he takes us through ideas and techniques of staying sane and mindful. The book is about an idea which can transform a human mind leading to a more meaningful, mindful life.

Originally published in 1912, this collection of short stories is set in the "Five Towns" which refers to the industrial district in the English Midlands where Bennett was born. The volume contains "The Dog," "The Elixir of Youth," "Baby's Bath," "Jock-at-a-Venture," "The Death of Simon Fuge," "The Matador of the Five Towns," "The Feud," "The Lion's Share," among others.

Published in 1905, Tales of the Five Towns collects a dozen stories, divided into two sections: "At Home" and "Abroad." The eight "At Home" tales take place in Bennett's beloved Five Towns, a location based on the Potteries district of Staffordshire, where he spent his early years. "Abroad" contains four stories which, though taking place in London, still have characters connected with the Potteries. All of the tales depict the industrial and social...