“There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate […]
American literature
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
“Tom said to himself that it was not such a hollow world, after all. He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it—namely, that in […]
American literature
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
“Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a […]
American literature
Breakfast of Champions
“We are healthy only to the extent that our ideas are humane.” Chapters 1-5 The novel introduces Kilgore Trout, a largely unknown science fiction writer whose works are […]
American literature
Cat’s Cradle
“Live by the foma* that make you brave and kind and healthy and happy.”(*Harmless untruths) Chapter 1-10: Introducing Jonah and the Hoenikker Legacy The narrator, John (or Jonah), […]
American literature
Slaughterhouse-Five
“All this happened, more or less. The war parts, anyway, are pretty much true.” Chapter 1 The novel opens with the author’s meta-commentary, explaining his struggle to write […]
American literature
The Color Purple
“You better not never tell nobody but God. It’d kill your mammy.” The novel opens with Celie, a poor Black girl in early 20th-century rural Georgia, writing letters […]
American literature
Invisible Man
“I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am […]
American literature
Their Eyes Were Watching God
“Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out […]
American literature
Song of Solomon
“You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.” — Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon Chapter 1 The novel opens in 1931 with […]