The Book
Tags
Summary
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers who enjoy short stories and want to finish a complete tale in one sitting
- Writers who want to observe how short-form suspense and twists are constructed
- Readers who need light English originals for extensive reading
Not a good fit for
- Readers who prefer long buildup and complex character arcs
- Readers who want a clear genre label before deciding to read
- Readers unaccustomed to reading English originals
Reading tips
- Set aside time to read it in one sitting; the suspense depends on continuous reading.
- After finishing, revisit the opening setup and see how the twist was planted.
- Read the English original through first without worrying about details, then return to key words that affect comprehension.
About the publisher
Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.
Contents
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FAQ
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About the author
Michael Shaara (1928–1988) was an American writer whose work spanned science fiction, sports, and historical fiction. Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, he graduated from Rutgers University, served in the 82nd Airborne Division, and later taught literature at Florida State University. His writing is notable for its range; his early short stories appeared mainly in science fiction magazines and often explored future societies, human predicaments, and individual choices. His novel about the Battle of Gettysburg, The Killer Angels, won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and brought him wide attention as a historical novelist. He died of a heart attack in 1988. Seven of his works are held in this collection, including Man of Distinction, Citizen Jell, and The Book. Public information about his life and work remains limited in the Chinese-speaking world, and his science fiction and sports writing have yet to be systematically translated and introduced.
