Mark Twain pokes a little good natured fun at the usual concept of heaven. The story follows Captain Elias Stormfield on his extremely long cosmic journey to heaven; his accidental misplacement; his short-lived interest in singing and playing the harp (generated by his preconceptions of heaven); and the obsession of souls with the “celebrities” of heaven, like Adam and Moses, who according to Twain become as distant to most people in heaven as living celebrities are on Earth. Twain uses this story to show his view that the common conception of heaven is ludicrous and points out the incongruities of such beliefs.Lots of his usual barbed humor here. – Summary by phil chenevert and wikipedia

This was the last story published by Twain, a few months before he died. The story follows Captain Elias Stormfield on his extremely long cosmic journey to heaven. It deals with the obsession of souls with the “celebrities” of heaven, like Adam and Moses, who according to Twain become as distant to most people in heaven as living celebrities are on Earth. Twain uses this story to show his view that the common conception of heaven is ludicrous and points out the incongruities of such beliefs. A lot of the description of Heaven is given by the character Sandy McWilliams, a cranberry farmer who is very experienced in the ways of heaven. The heaven described by him is similar to the conventional Christian heaven, but includes a larger version of all the locations on Earth, as well as of everywhere in the universe. Once in heaven, the person spends eternity living as he thinks best, usually according to his true (sometimes undiscovered) talent. According to one of the characters, a cobbler who “has the soul of a poet in him won’t have to make shoes here”, implying that he would instead turn to poetry and achieve perfection in it. As Stormfield proceeds through heaven, he learns that his pre-conceptions of “heaven” are all wrong and a good part of the fun of the tale comes from Twain’s revealing the “true facts” about what heaven is and how it works. (Introduction by Wikipedia and John Greenman)

The American bison (Bison bison), also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds, became nearly extinct by a combination of commercial hunting and slaughter in the 19th century and introduction of bovine diseases from domestic cattle. William T. Hornaday?s advocacy is credited with preserving the American bison from extinction. This book, originally published in 1887, gives Mr. Hornaday’s evidence of the Bison’s impending extinction. (Adapted from Wikipedia by Ann Boulais)

Pacian, Bishop of Barcelona in the Pyrenees, of chastened eloquence, eminent for his life as for his writings, wrote various works, of which is the Cervus and against the Novatians. He died lately in the reign of Theodosius, in extreme old age; i.e. before A. 392. He was born then probably about 30 years after the martyrdom of St. Cyprian, was a younger contemporary of Hosius, and through him joined on to the Council of Eliberis, and the restoration of discipline in the Spanish Church. His memory was kept with great affection at Barcelona on May 9, on which he is commemorated in the Martyrologium Romanum, in words taken from St. Jerome. It is of the good Providence of God, that, of the same father, works should have come down, vindicating the doctrine of the Church on penitence, as a doctrine, against the heresy of Novatian, practically, against the neglect of careless sinners. The Epistles to Sympronian and the exhortation to Penitence, combined, shew how compatible are tenderness to the sinner with a strict and, as it would now seem, severe doctrine of penitence; that not earnest calls to a self-avenging and self-chastening penitence, but the denial of its fruits and of the power of the keys, is the essence of Novatianism. Well versed as St. Pacian was in the writings of St. Cyprian, who also insists on the same acts of penitence, his language approaches more both in style and vividness of expostulation to that of Tertullian, whose work on penitence he claims, as having been written by him while a Catholic. It is hoped that from this very combination, his works might be useful in these days, in which, for want of that more frequent special application of the power of the keys, which our Church suggests, any mention of more earnest penitence is thought to partake of the hard and uncompassionating heresy of Novatian. – Summary from the Preface

The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals is a book by Charles Darwin, published in 1872, concerning genetically determined aspects of behaviour. It was published thirteen years after On the Origin of Species and alongside his 1871 book The Descent of Man, it is Darwin’s main consideration of human origins. In this book, Darwin seeks to trace the animal origins of human characteristics, such as the pursing of the lips in concentration and the tightening of the muscles around the eyes in anger and efforts of memory. Darwin sought out the opinions of some eminent British psychiatrists, notably James Crichton-Browne, in the preparation of the book which forms Darwin’s main contribution to psychology. – Summary by Availle

Eighteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include bedside books, South African cookery, Bryce canyon, Wilhelm Stekel’s psychology, the Theologia Germanica, Paracelsus, John Donne, Cotton Mather, Julia Smith’s translation of the Bible, Zen Buddhism, American immigrants, slavery, Joseph Crosby Lincoln, Oscar Wilde, Albert Einstein, and cats. “Cats and Their Care” was edited by Liberty Hyde Bailey. “Looking Backward” was translated by Samuel Aaron Tannenbaum. “The Collector” was translated by Rosalie Gabler. “Thelogia Germanica” was translated by Susanna Winkworth. (summary by Sue Anderson)

Eugene Field, Sr. was an American writer, best known for his children’s poetry and humorous essays.

LibriVox volunteers bring you 11 recordings of A Contented Man by Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev. This was the Weekly Poetry project for September 5, 2021. —— Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev was a Russian novelist, short story writer, poet, playwright, translator and popularizer of Russian literature in the West. Constance Clara Garnett was an English translator of nineteenth-century Russian literature. She was the first English translator to render numerous volumes of Anton Chekhov’s work into English. Altogether, she translated 71 volumes of Russian literature, many of which are still in print today. – Summary by Wikipedia

This roman ? clef follows the musical adventures of Consuelo, a gifted singer under the tutelage of the composer Nicola Porpora. After encountering betrayal in her home city of Venice, she goes to stay with a family of nobles in an isolated castle in Bohemia and teach singing to the baroness who lives there. It is there that she meets Count Albert, a troubled young man who experiences regressions to past lives. He is strangely drawn to her, but she, though moved with pity for him, is unsure what to think of him. She then sets out for Vienna to meet with Porpora again and on the way befriends a young Joseph Haydn. The two do their best to skirt intrigue and peril during their journey while Consuelo engages in soul-searching to determine who Count Albert is to her. (Summary by Scarbo)

F. Matthias Alexander was an Australian actor, author and educator, who is best known as the inventor of Alexander Technique, a method for “unlearning” acquired habits of movement and posture that are harmful or suboptimal, and allowing natural, healthy patterns of body use to emerge in their place. Alexander Technique is now taught by specially trained instructors through in-person lessons around the world, and is particularly popular among musicians and other performance artists. In this 1923 book, considered by many to be his best, Alexander explains the principles of his technique and the theory behind it. It includes an introduction by the American philosopher and educator John Dewey, who studied the technique with Alexander. (Summary by Kazbek)

This 1787 document defines the rights and responsibilities of federal government of the United States of America.

The Constitution of Athens (Greek: ???????? ????????) was written by Aristotle or his student. The text was lost until discovered in the late 19th century in Egypt. Topics discussed include Solon’s legislative reforms abolishing debt slavery and the rise and decline of democracy and tyranny in Athens. (Summary by Geoffrey Edwards)

Constance Dunlap is a young woman who in Chapter 1 turns amateur criminal in order to to save her husband from disgrace and imminent arrest. When this sadly doesn’t work out exactly as planned, Constance goes on to embrace a new life. More antiheroine than heroine, she uses her wits and new found talents to aid others in avoiding retribution for their crimes always one step ahead of the detective pursuing her. Summary by J. M. Smallheer

“The Conspiracy of Pontiac” was Parkman’s first history book and first published in 1851. It covers the Indian wars of 1763 to 1769. Pontiac, an Ottawa chief, put together a coalition of Indian tribes from around the Great Lakes region and the Illinois and Ohio Countries to attack the British under General Jeffrey Amherst. – Summary by Richard Carpenter

Birds, Illustrated by Color Photography was a monthly publication of the Nature Study Publishing Company of Chicago. It includes short poems, anecdotes and factual descriptions of birds with accompanying color plates. The magazine was published from 1897-1907 under the various titles, “Birds,” “Birds and all Nature,” “Nature and Art” and “Birds and Nature.” Later issues were expanded to include animals, plants, etc. Summary by J. M. Smallheer

Birds, Illustrated by Color Photography was a monthly publication of the Nature Study Publishing Company of Chicago. It includes short poems, anecdotes and factual descriptions of birds with accompanying color plates. The magazine was published from 1897-1907 under the various titles, “Birds,” “Birds and all Nature,” “Nature and Art” and “Birds and Nature.” Later issues were expanded to include animals, plants, etc. Summary by J. M. Smallheer