Essay/Short nonfiction audiobooks page 18

The Appreciations and Criticisms of the Works of Charles Dickens

“These papers were originally published as prefaces to the separate books of Dickens in one of the most extensive of those cheap libraries of the classics which are one of the real improvements of recent times. Thus they were harmless, being diluted by, or rather drowned in Dickens. My scrap of theory was a mere dry biscuit to be taken with the grand tawny port of great English comedy; and by most people it was not taken at all–like the biscuit.

Nevertheless the essays were not in intention so aimless as they appear in fact. I had a general notion of what needed saying about Dickens to the new generation, though probably I did not say it. I will make another attempt to do so in t...

Mark Twain's Speeches
Spanning the time between 1872 and the year before he died, this collection of after-dinner speeches, random thoughts to "the press", etc. clearly documents, once again, the truly eclectic mind of Samuel Clemens. It also demonstrates how he dealt with adulation, compliments and notoriety...head on! This collection is a treasure-trove of Twain sayings, witticisms and pronouncements on a huge galaxy of issues and concerns in his life.

Sammlung kurzer deutscher Prosa 042
Diese Sammlung umfasst 15 deutschsprachige Prosa-Texte verschiedener Genres. "Eine Bagatelle" und "Die letzte Mohikanerin" von Anton Chekhov übersetzt von Alexander Eliasberg (1878 - 1924) Eine Liste weiterer kurzer Aufnahmen (Erzählungen, Gedichte, Märchen, Essays) in anderen LibriVox Sammlungen gibt es hier.
Adventskalender 2010
Diese Sammlung ist ein Adventskalender und enthält ein Türchen für jeden Tag vom 1. bis zum 24. Dezember.
朝花夕拾 (Chao hua si she)
这个集子收录了鲁迅早年“从记忆中抄出来的“记录自己童年往事的散文。这些文章于1926年陆续发表在《莽原》杂志,1927年经鲁迅重新编订,加上小引和后记,于1928年在广州以《朝花夕拾》为名结集出版。这十篇散文长短不一,秉承鲁迅一贯隽永辛辣的文风,于生动刻画民俗众生的同时针砭时事,嘲骂文敌,是鲁迅早期的重要作品。

Chao Hua Si She (Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk) is a collection of essays on Chinese culture and society by Lu Xun, the most influential writer in 20th century China.

Moral Letters, Vol. I
"Among the personalities of the early Roman Empire there are few who offer to the readers of to-day such dramatic interest as does Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the author of the Epistles which are translated in this volume. ... In these letters, it is impossible to ignore the advance from a somewhat stiff and Ciceronian point of view into the attractive and debatable land of what one may fairly call modern ideas. The style of the Epistles is bold, and so is the thought." (from the Introduction)

Logic of Vegetarianism
With clear logic and entertaining dialogues, the author presents many reasons for a vegetarian rather than a “flesh-eating” diet, and his arguments for not eating meat are as compelling today as when they were written. (Lee Smalley )

African-American Collection, July 2007

This collection recognizes Black History Month, February 2007. Two excellent resources for public domain African American writing are African American Writers (Bookshelf) and The Book of American Negro Poetry, edited by James Weldon Johnson. Johnson’s collection inspired the Harlem Renaissance generation to establish a firm African-American literary tradition in the United States.

The Crimes of England

“Second, when telling such lies as may seem necessary to your international standing, do not tell the lies to the people who know the truth. Do not tell the Eskimos that snow is bright green; nor tell the negroes in Africa that the sun never shines in that Dark Continent. Rather tell the Eskimos that the sun never shines in Africa; and then, turning to the tropical Africans, see if they will believe that snow is green. Similarly, the course indicated for you is to slander the Russians to the English and the English to the Russians; and there are hundreds of good old reliable slanders which can still be used against both of them. There are probably still Russians who believe that every ...

How to Tell a Story, and Other Essays
In his inimitable way, Mark Twain gives sound advice about how to tell a story, then lets us in on some curious incidents he experienced, and finishes with a trip that proves life-changing.