The Floating Press imprint: 2252 books

This unique collection of short stories came about when a dinnertime conversation led to the following question being posed: What would happen if a man and woman were forced to spend several days shackled to one another? Four skilled writers offer their answers to this query in four interesting, enlightening tales.

One-time winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, John Galsworthy is best known as a prolific novelist and playwright who created the sweeping historical epic series known as the Forsyte Saga. The Inn of Tranquility collects a representative cross-section of his work, including short stories, essays, and autobiographical recollections.

Wieland, named by his father after a German nickname for the devil, inherits both his father's estate and religious susceptibility. His idyllic rural life is disrupted when he falls prey to the ventriloquist Carwin, who convinces Wieland that a divine voice is commanding him to slaughter his family....

"The theme of the sea is heroic--epic. Since the first stirrings of the imagination of man the sea has enthralled him; and since the dawn of literature he has chronicled his wanderings upon its vast bosom." Joseph Lewis French collected what he considered the best sea stories of literature into this volume.

Before rising in the ranks of the fantasy genre, American author James Branch Cabell used fiction as a way to grapple with his native country's past, present, and future, as well as with the conundrum of living as an artist in a capitalist society. The exquisitely wrought short stories collected in The Certain Hour address these themes from a number of different angles.

Think all poetry is depressing, somber, and difficult to comprehend? If so, The Book of Humorous Verse is here to set you straight. This collection of witty sonnets, odes, and limericks is the perfect way to decompress with a belly laugh or two, even when you have just a few minutes to spare. Whether...

Bring Me His Ears, a novel that's part of Clarence E. Mulford's beloved Hopalong Cassidy series, is a fast-paced Western in the classic vein of the genre. It sucks readers in right from the start and doesn't let up its pace until the very last page.

Though this New York native didn't arrive in California until the age of 19, American author Bret Harte rose to literary acclaim on the strength of his stories set in the rough-and-tumble West of the 1800s. This collection of tales brings back fan favorite Jack Hamlin, a grizzled gambler with a heart of gold.

Selkie, wee people, elves, fauns, mogwai -- no matter what you call them, virtually every cultural tradition has created a type of being that is analogous to the Western concept of the fairy. In this fascinating analysis, scholar Edwin Sidney Hartland delves into the inner workings of the ubiquitous fairy myth and traces its impact across many cultures.

In this humorous novella from American writer Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, a rural New England community is thrown for a loop by the arrival of a family that has relocated from the big city. The Jamesons have the best intentions, but their attitudes and conventions stand out in the small village. What will it take for them to finally begin to fit in?

B. M. Bower was one of the most prolific and popular writers in the early days of the Western genre, and stories like The Long Shadow explain the author's abiding popularity. From heartrending descriptions of the Western landscape, to budding romance, to action-packed chases and fight scenes, this novel truly has something for everyone.

Early writer of Westerns Bertha Muzzy Bower was one of the most prominent female contributors to the early era of the genre. The Range Dwellers adds an interesting perspective to the traditional Western narrative arc, including a spunky female protagonist.

The runaway bestseller "The Magic Story" was first published in 1900 in "Success Magazine". It has been constantly in print ever since. Those who read this parable are fabled to live a charmed life and enjoy extraordinary good luck from the moment they finish the book. Take the time to let the "Magic Story" work for you.

Is it possible to love a person so much that you refuse to remain together with him or her -- because you know that your union is destined to bring unhappiness? Is this choice selfless or selfish? That's the philosophical question at the heart of this rather dark romance from Anne Douglas Sedgwick. Despite...