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The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic American novel of the Roaring Twenties is beloved by generations of readers and stands as his crowning work. This new audio edition, authorized by the Fitzgerald estate, is narrated by Oscar-nominated actor Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain). Gyllenhaal’s performance is a faithful delivery in the voice of Nick Carraway, the Midwesterner turned New York bond salesman, who rents a small house next door to the mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby. There, he has a firsthand view of Gatsby’s lavish West Egg parties – and of his undying love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan. After meeting and losing Daisy during the war, Gatsby has made himself fabulously wealthy. Now, he believes that his only way to true happiness is to find his way back into Daisy’s life, and he uses Nick to try to reach her. What happens when the characters’ fantasies are confronted with reality makes for a startling conclusion to this iconic masterpiece. This special audio edition joins the upcoming film – as well as many other movie, radio, theater, and even video-game adaptations – as a fitting tribute to the cultural significance of Fitzgerald’s Jazz Age classic, widely regarded as one of the greatest stories ever told.In 1922, F. Scott Fitzgerald announced his decision to write “something new–something extraordinary and beautiful and simple + intricately patterned.” That extraordinary, beautiful, intricately patterned, and above all, simple novel became The Great Gatsby, arguably Fitzgerald’s finest work and certainly the book for which he is best known. A portrait of the Jazz Age in all of its decadence and excess, Gatsby captured the spirit of the author’s generation and earned itself a permanent place in American mythology. Self-made, self-invented millionaire Jay Gatsby embodies some of Fitzgerald’s–and his country’s–most abiding obsessions: money, ambition, greed, and the promise of new beginnings. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter–tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther…. And one fine morning–” Gatsby’s rise to glory and eventual fall from grace becomes a kind of cautionary tale about the American Dream.

It’s also a love story, of sorts, the narrative of Gatsby’s quixotic passion for Daisy Buchanan. The pair meet five years before the novel begins, when Daisy is a legendary young Louisville beauty and Gatsby an impoverished officer. They fall in love, but while Gatsby serves overseas, Daisy marries the brutal, bullying, but extremely rich Tom Buchanan. After the war, Gatsby devotes himself blindly to the pursuit of wealth by whatever means–and to the pursuit of Daisy, which amounts to the same thing. “Her voice is full of money,” Gatsby says admiringly, in one of the novel’s more famous descriptions. His millions made, Gatsby buys a mansion across Long Island Sound from Daisy’s patrician East Egg address, throws lavish parties, and waits for her to appear. When she does, events unfold with all the tragic inevitability of a Greek drama, with detached, cynical neighbor Nick Carraway acting as chorus throughout. Spare, elegantly plotted, and written in crystalline prose, The Great Gatsby is as perfectly satisfying as the best kind of poem.

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Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teacher Tales: 101 Inspirational Stories from Great Teachers and Appreciative Students

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teacher Tales brings much-needed inspiration to teachers, and brings together great stories about teaching from the 2009 National Teacher of the Year and all the 2009 State Teachers of the Year, as well as other teachers and stories of thanks from students. A great teacher gift all year round.

There’s always that one special teacher or student, and Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teacher Tales regales all educators with its heartfelt, inspiring, and humorous stories from inside and outside the classroom. Stories from teachers and students about their favorite memories, lasting lessons, and unforgettable moments will uplift and encourage any teacher. A foreword by Anthony Mullen, 2009 National Teacher of the Year, and stories from all the 2009 State Teachers of the Year.

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Positive Affirmation Secrets — How To Talk To Yourself and Master Affirmations To Get Great RESULTS – Positive Self Talk Techniques That Work Like Magic (Self Help)

Positive affirmations correctly applied can produce dramatic results for anyone. But successful self talk requires the right approach… and that’s where a lot of people have been led astray.

Who we are and the results and circumstances we experience in life are largely influenced by the programming that resides in our subconscious minds.

What’s really unfortunate is that a lot of that programming was placed there by others when we were children and it doesn’t serve us particularly well. To change the program — and in turn change our results — we need to take charge and feed our minds with THE RIGHT WORDS delivered in the right way.

This is exactly what Positive Affirmation Secrets — How To Talk To Yourself and Master Affirmations To Get Great RESULTS – Positive Self Talk Techniques That Work Like Magic helps you to do.

If you’ve tried affirmations before but didn’t get the outcome you hoped for — you’ll discover the underlying reasons and how to use this powerful tool to create dramatic changes and positive manifestations – virtually on demand.

If you’ve never used affirmations before, you’ll learn how to do it the right way from the very start — and increase your ability to turn your words into your reality.

If you’re feeling like you’re always getting the short end of the stick in life.. frustrated because you’re not living up to your full potential… or feeling like you’ve lost control — affirmations can give you the kick-start you need to shift gears and enjoy life to the fullest.

This short book is a crash course in positive affirmations. Positive Affirmation Secrets provides you with simple, clear, step-by-step guidance for creating powerful and positive change through the correct use of words.

With this kind of highly-effective self talk — your desired results inevitably become your reality in ANY AREA of your life.

Health, finances, career, communications, relationships, love, confidence — virtually any result in your life can be completely transformed by affirmations DONE THE RIGHT WAY.

Change the program that’s running in your mind and you change your life. This book will help you get started today.

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Phillips’ Book of Great Thoughts & Funny Sayings: A Stupendous Collection of Quotes, Quips, Epigrams, Witticisms, and Humorous Comments. For Personal Enjoyment and Ready Reference.

From Bible quotes and Christian teachings to the words of renowned historical figures, this collection of over 3,800 entries offers wit, wisdom, and an emphasis on practical living.

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2500 Years of Wisdom: Sayings of the Great Masters

The wisdom from the greatest minds on earth… all in one place. This book of carefully selected and arranged quotations, each elevating and expanding upon the last, represents the greatest philosophical thoughts mankind has produced in its attempt to come to a deeper understanding of the human condition. Combining classic expressions from giants, such as Plato and Confucius, with aphorisms of accepted masters, such as Montaigne and Goethe, this book also blends the genius of lesser known lights, such as Baltazar Gracien and Simone Weil. The result is a magnificent and harmonious symphony of humanity’s deepest convictions, crossing the boundaries of culture and time.

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The Great Book of Inspiring Quotations : Motivational Sayings For All Occasions

The goal of this book is simple: to inspire, motivate, and encourage readers. The quotations gathered in this book, arranged under 31 motivational and inspirational headings, are international in scope and range from ancient to contemporary. The selection draws on a variety of sources and authors, from philosophers and poets to athletes, coaches, and executives. This volume will not only serve speakers and leaders in sport, business, and many other fields, as a useful source for all occasions, but also prove a valuable personal source for study and reflection.

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A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was first a preacher and then an advocate for civil rights. This is a selection of Dr. King’s most spiritual words, the sermons he delivered from his pulpit at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church and in churches around the country. The sermons are moving meditations on a variety of topics, including rediscovering lost values, the redemptive power of love, and making moral advancement as much a part of life as technological advancement. Delivered by Reverend King himself, these heartfelt words reverberate with the charisma and greatness of the man. This collection also includes sermons which have not been heard since Dr. King’s assassination.These 11 historic sermons–some complete recordings of entire addresses, others reconstructed from various church services–make plain why Martin Luther King Jr. considered his “first calling and greatest commitment” to be a preacher of the gospel. As an orator he is second to none, drawing his audience in with an urgency that resonates through every soaring cadence of his familiar, powerful voice. Using insights from psychology, philosophy, and the Bible, he appeals to the heads as well as the hearts of his congregations, explaining that personal and social change can only be effected by adopting a morality of love in service of God and humankind. While King’s concern for social justice is a common theme throughout, each sermon is a jewel of literary artistry, as it presents a simple problem, examines its complications, and offers a startling and often challenging resolution. Topics range from “Rediscovering Lost Values,” a caution that scientific progress without moral progress can result only in a step backward for humanity, to “An American Dream,” a wake-up call to the “self-evident truth” of equality proclaimed in the Constitution.

Brief introductions to the sermons from spiritual leaders and friends, including Dr. Joan Campbell, Billy Graham, Dr. Robert Franklin, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, offer personal insights into King’s life, work, and legacy. An interesting note from the producers explains how the recordings of the sermons (published in a hardcover companion of the same name) were pieced together. In word and in voice, these are masterpieces of theological literature from one of the world’s great orators, who Robert Franklin rightly says may well be “the greatest religious intellectual of the twentieth century.” (Running time: 8 hours, 6 cassettes) –Uma Kukathas