The saga of three generations of the Trask and Hamilton families in the early 1900's in Northern California. East of Eden is a work in which Steinbeck created his most mesmerizing characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of identity, the inexplicability of love, and the murderous consequences of love's absence. Adapted for the 1955 film directed by Elia Kazan introducing James Dean and read by thousands as the book that brought...

"On a summer afternoon in 1854, rag and bone lady Aggie Winkowski rescues 10-year old Millie Forester from the streets as the pretty child's unfortunate mother is hauled off to jail. Aggie fully expects to be rid of her amusing but talkative little charge by morning. But the child's tragic circumstances and vulnerability soften the old woman's heart, and the two develop a relationship that changes Aggie's life and shapes Millie's destiny"--Container....

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family's history that began before he was born -- a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam -- and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation. At once a witness to the fraught yet undeniable love between...