Library of America free content

August 2, 2011 9:10 AM

Every Monday The Library of America features a free Story of the Week. It could be anything -- a short work of fiction, a character sketch, an essay, a journalist’s dispatch, a poem -- taken from from one of the hundreds of classic books in the LoA collection. Archive of 83 weeks so far.
posted by stbalbach (5 comments total)

This is great: An interview of Mark Twain by Rudyard Kipling before Kipling became famous, first published in the Pioneer of Allahabad, India. Kipling journeyed from India to Elmira, NY to meet "that man Clemens" (what everyone in Elmira seems to call him). It starts:
You are a contemptible lot, over yonder. Some of you are Commissioners, and some Lieutenant-Governors, and some have the V. C., and a few are privileged to walk about the Mall arm in arm with the Viceroy; but I have seen Mark Twain this golden morning, have shaken his hand, and smoked a cigar—no, two cigars—with him, and talked with him for more than two hours! Understand clearly that I do not despise you; indeed, I don’t. I am only very sorry for you, from the Viceroy downward. To soothe your envy and to prove that I still regard you as my equals, I will tell you all about it.
posted by peacheater at 9:42 AM on August 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

Every day 365 Tomorrows offers a free story. Or, you could - you know - get off your duff and write one.

slacker
posted by Twang at 3:34 PM on August 2, 2011

I think my printing the LOA stories out at work is the main reason we have to enter user codes when printing or copying stuff now.
posted by The Hamms Bear at 5:26 PM on August 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

This is great, thanks. In Goldman, Sachs We Trust from John Kenneth Galbraith's The Great Crash, 1929 is particularly interesting.
posted by mediareport at 6:44 PM on August 2, 2011

Thank you very much for this valuable resource!
posted by Ralph at 12:23 AM on August 6, 2011