The Man with the Golden Arm by Nelson Algren.
Frankie "Machine" Majcinek is a World War 2 veteran and a morphine addict. His primary skill is dealing cards with machine-like consistency, but he dreams of becoming a big band drummer. His disabled wife, his fickle best friend, and his addiction send his meaningless life out of control. Realistic story describing the depths of Chicago 's underworld. Also available as a descriptive video, DV 157. Strong language. RC 51436.

The Collected Stories of William Faulkner.
Forty-two stories of startling variety that deal with social and moral themes with regional humor, folksiness, and wisdom.
Includes: Barn Burning , Fox Hunt , Rose for Emily , Uncle Willy , and Victory. RC 11539.

From Here to Eternity by James Jones.
A powerful novel about military life in Hawaii just before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It captures the spirit and character of the Army, especially in the portrait of Private First Class Robert Prewitt. Strong language, some explicit descriptions of sex. RC 56319.

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.
Classic novel of man's search for identity. Follows a young black man from his youth in a Southern town through the Depression years in Harlem, where he examines and rejects the values thrust on him by both whites and blacks. RC 56346, BR 14988.

The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow.
A young man, the son of poor Russian Jewish immigrants, has escapades in the world of wealth and sophisticated women. Ranging from the depths of poverty to the heights of success, this is the sprawling chronicle of a modern Columbus in search of reality and fulfillment. Strong language and explicit descriptions of sex. RC 15751.

A Fable by William Faulkner.
During World War 1, a French corporal and his twelve followers bring action to a halt as they spread the gospel of the brotherhood of man. In rhetoric that bitterly denounces war, the novel presents a parallel between the false armistice in France in 1918 and the Passion Week. RC 42248, BR 551.

Ten North Frederick by John O'Hara.
A novel recording the life of one of the first citizens of a Pennsylvania town. Begins with the reflections of old friends and acquaintances at his funeral, and then flashes back to his family home to unearth old secrets. Explicit descriptions of sex. RC 25209.

The Field of Vision by Wright Morris.
Not available from Wolfner.

The Wapshot Chronicle by John Cheever.
This poignant chronicle follows the fortunes of the Wapshot family of Saint Botolphs, a mythical New England seaport. Old Captain Leander Wapshot is in love with his ferryboat, which he keeps losing and regaining. An eccentric aunt wants to give Leander's son a fortune if he will marry and produce heirs. RC 12886, BR 11943.

The Magic Barrel by Bernard Malamud.
Thirteen short stories set in America, most of which concern the poverty of urban Jews making their living by running small shops. RC 18143.

Goodbye, Columbus by Philip Roth.
A story about a young Radcliffe girl and a Rutgers boy who learn that there is more to love than exuberance and passion. This edition also includes five other short stories that dramatize the dilemma of modern American Jews torn between two worlds. Strong language. RC 12143, BR 11967.

The Waters of Kronos by Conrad Richter.
Not available from Wolfner.

The Moviegoer by Walker Percy.
Binx Bolling, an intelligent and successful young businessman, is an avid movie fan who finds the world on the screen more real to him than life itself. During Carnival Week in New Orleans, Binx's dreamlike existence is disrupted and he rediscovers his strength and capacity to love. Some strong language. RC 11841, BR 1854.

Morte D'Urban by J.F. Powers.
Father Urban is a dedicated, sophisticated priest in Chicago, who enjoys his comforts and recruits benefactors for his order. He is suddenly transferred to an isolated parish in Minnesota. There he contemplates the ironies of success in the service of the church and his beleaguered faith. He manages to accomplish a great deal of work in his new parish until he is suddenly reassigned again. RC 33654.

The Centaur by John Updike.
Retells the Greek myth of the centaur who sacrifices his immortality on behalf of Prometheus. In the novel, the centaur is a science teacher at a Pennsylvania high school, and Prometheus is his teenaged son. RC 15343.

Herzog by Saul Bellow.
Interior monologues make up much of this story about a modern Jewish man who is earnest, immature, clumsy, thoughtful, and forgiving. He has met only failure in two marriages, an academic career, and his search for meaning. Strong language, explicit descriptions of sex. RC 22553, BR 207.

The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter.
This volume brings together the three collections of the author's short stories Flowering Judas , Pale Horse, Pale Rider , and The Leaning Tower and Other Stories. RC 41186.

The Fixer by Bernard Malamud.
Based on an actual court case involving the attempt of Russian authorities to discredit Judaism by accusing one Jew of a ritual murder. The book describes the dehumanizing abuse and torture endured by an innocent man awaiting trial. RC 17078, BR 4979.

The Eighth Day by Thornton Wilder.
At the turn of the century in Coaltown, Illinois, John Ashley is convicted of shooting his friend and business partner Breckenridge Lansing. After strangers help Ashley escape, he flees to Chile, leaving his wife and children to face poverty and ridicule. RC 37676, BR 659.

Steps by Jerzy N. Kosinski.
Experimental novel that examines evil by a series of subtle episodes connected by fragments of autobiography. Explicit descriptions of sex. BR 3306.

Them by Joyce Carol Oates.
Set in Detroit, from the Depression era to the riots of 1967. The novel follows the violent lives of the Wendalls, a proud, broken, working class family on the margins of society. Some strong language,some violence, and some descriptions of sex. RC 44102.

Mr. Sammler's Planet by Saul Bellow.
The catastrophe of late twentieth century existence as seen through the eyes of an elderly Polish Jew living on Manhattan 's Upper West Side. A former journalist and survivor of a Nazi concentration camp, Mr. Sammler muses on the loss of tradition, roots, ideals, and various family crises.RC 25193.

The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor.
Thirty-one original stories, arranged chronologically, that fuse comedy and tragedy in expressing the real spirit of the South. Translating moral and religious themes into living presences, O'Connor draws on techniques of distortion and grotesque exaggeration to bring forth her revelations. RC 15019.

Augustus by John Williams.
A novel about the life and times of Julius Caesar's great-nephew and adopted son Augustus who became the first Roman emperor. Composed of imaginary letters, records of senatorial proceedings, proclamations, and journals of such contemporaries as Agrippa, Horace, and Livy, the book traces the career of Augustus from his accession to power in 44 B.C. to his death in 14 A.D. RC 21112.

Chimera by John Barth.
Three interlocked novellas based on the myths of Scheherazade, Perseus, and Bellerophon which concern the nature of the hero and relationships between men and women in search of immortality. Explicit descriptions of sex. RC 6048.

Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon.
A demanding novel of comic, terrifying incidents that traces the odyssey of the anti-hero, an American lieutenant stationed in London during World War 2. Strong language and explicit descriptions of sex. RC 23792.

A Crown of Feathers by Isaac Bashevis Singer.
A thematic collection of 25 short and humorous tales set in America, Israel, and czarist Poland. The stories celebrate the dignity, mystery, and unexpected joy of living. RC 7019.

The Hair of Harold Roux by Thomas Williams.
This complex novel tells two stories set in two times. The earlier takes place just after World War 2 and concerns Allard Benson and his bald friend Harold Roux. The second, set in the 1970s, is about a professor writing a novel called "The Hair of Harold Roux." Explicit descriptions of sex. RC 10500.

Dog Soldiers by Robert Stone.
Not available from Wolfner.

Jr by William Gladdis.
Not available from Wolfner.

The Spectator Bird by Wallace Earle Stegner.
This psychological novel revolves around literary agent Joe Allston. At age seventy, he is bemused and alarmed by the infirmities of age, causing him to reexamine his past by reading an old diary. RC 33332, BR 3759.

Blood Ties by Mary Lee Settle.
Examines the lives of a group of restless expatriates living on the Turkish coast. Among the invaders are an unhappy divorcée, a former accountant and his wife, and a petulant heiress. Some strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. RC 14344.

Going after Cacciato by Tim O'Brien.
A tough yet lyrical novel relating the saga of an American soldier. While fighting in Vietnam, he deserts the military and heads for Paris, while the rest of his squad pursues him. Strong language. RC 14424, BR 12371.

Sophie's Choice by William Styron.
Stingo moves into a cheap Brooklyn rooming house where he meets unstable Nathan and his gorgeous lover Sophie, a Polish Catholic who survived the Holocaust. Stingo feels unrequited love for Sophie, but hides it well and becomes her confidant as she faces the horrors of her past, especially the years she worked for the Commandant of Auschwitz. Also available as a descriptive video, DV 202. Strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. RC 13812, BR 4142.

The World According to Garp by John Irving.
The fictional life and times of T.S. Garp, famous writer and son of Jenny, an early feminist leader. Named after a father he never sees, Garp grows up to be a fiercely independent and determined individual. Some strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. RC 11764.

Birdy by William Wharton.
Two boyhood friends from Philadelphia are reunited in a World War 2 army psychiatric ward. Birdy relives his obsession for birds and his adolescent dream of becoming a bird and flying. Al, a former jock now weary of war and convalescence, reaches out to Birdy. Strong language. RC 13506, BR 4093.

Plains Song: For Female Voices by Wright Morris.
divning the late nineteenth century to modern times, this is the poignant story of three generations in a Nebraska farm family. The women are dominated by the example of the resolute, hard working Cora Atkins. RC 15467.

The Stories of John Cheever.
Sixty-one short stories centering on such varied subjects as marriage, suburbia, Manhattan, the middle class, theological society, Italy, decency, and families. Cheever describes them as "stories of a long lost world... when you heard Benny Goodman quartets from a radio in the corner stationery store and almost everyone wore a hat." RC 12496.

Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike.
In 1979, Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom finds himself fat, middle aged, and at long last affluent. He lives with his wife and her mother in Brewer, Pennsylvania, and runs the Toyota dealership that the two women have inherited. For the first time in his life he feels almost happy, until a girl shows up at his shop. Rabbit series, Book 3. Series Code RAB. Strong language and explicit descriptions of sex. RC 17315, BR 5051.

So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell.
The narrator looks back over fifty years to his childhood in a small Wisconsin town. Adolescent, lonely, and confused he once observed a sensational murder case in which the accused was a friend's father. BR 4396.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker.
The novel relates the story of two African American sisters through their letters to each other. Celie has been married to a man she hates, and her sister Nettie is a missionary in Africa. Also available as a descriptive video, DV 506. Strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. RC 18576, BR 12265.

The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty.
Contains all of Welty's published stories. Tales of small town life that reflect the human condition and the uneasily changing South.RC 16598.

The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor.
Seven women live on Brewster Place, a blind alley leading into a dead end street, but their spirits and stories are anything but impoverished. Each has a story that is uniquely hers, but also touches the concerns of women everywhere. A commentary on the experience of black women in the United States. Some strong language. RC 25314, BR 11906.

Victory over Japan by Ellen Gilchrist.
Fourteen short stories of spirited women caught in the straitlaced upper class South. Three of the narratives follow Rhoda Manning from her sassy, bright childhood through marriage and divorce. Other stories venture into the wild, sometimes violent household of Miss Crystal, as seen by her maid. RC 22725.

Stones for Ibarra by Harriet Doerr.
In 1960, Richard and Sara Everton, a middle aged, agnostic couple, arrive in the remote Mexican village of Ibarra, envisioning a happy future running their inherited copper mine. They are unprepared for the mysterious customs of the Catholic townspeople and for the shock of learning that Richard may die in a few years of leukemia. RC 23682, BR 11986.

White Noise by Don DeLillo.
This black comedy zeros in on the absurdities of life and the fear of death in contemporary America. College professor Jack Gladney teaches "Hitler studies" despite the fact that he knows no German. He and his wife share a pervasive dread of death that is justified when a cloud of lethal fumes threatens to engulf their quiet college town. Some strong language. RC 23512.

Easy in the Islands: Stories by Bob Shacochis.
A collection of stories set in the Caribbean islands. In one, calypso bandleader Lord Short Shoe schemes with a sexy singer to swindle a tourist out of his pride and his companion monkey. In another, two poor islanders stumble in a violent encounter that may escalate into revolution. Infused with the rhythms and the beat of the Caribbean, these are vivid tales of paradise sought and lost. RC 23823.

World's Fair by E.L. Doctorow.
Nostalgic recreation of New York during the Great Depression, the first decade in the life of Edgar Altshuler, a perceptive boy from a progressive Jewish family. Captures the universals of childhood experience and describes the World's Fair in precise detail. Some strong language and some descriptions of sex. RC 22972, BR 6338.

Paco's Story by Larry Heinemann.
In Vietnam, Paco is lying wounded in the jungle heat, surrounded by the bodies of his fallen friends. On the third day, a medic finds him, and Paco is patched together and sent home. The medic suffers a heart attack, and later he becomes an alcoholic who recounts the story of Paco's rescue in bars. Strong language and explicit descriptions of sex. RC 26927.

Paris Trout by Pete Dexter.
A gothic tale of murder and injustice in a small Georgia town at the end of World War 2. Paris Trout is a disheveled, amoral hardware store owner who affects a convincing façade of respectability. He kills a teenaged African American girl in a shooting spree brought on by a boy's failure to repay a loan. Strong language and explicit descriptions of sex. RC 29151.

Spartina by John Casey.
Rhode Island fisherman Dick Pierce and his family have been able to scrape by on his income. But Pierce wants bigger and better things, so he is building his own boat, the Spartina. Pierce's efforts to acquire funding lead him to some unscrupulous methods. As this and other matters weigh heavily on him, he struggles to come to grips with all that life has dealt him. Strong language and some descriptions of sex. RC 30692, BR 8060.

Middle Passage by Charles Johnson.
The year is 1830. Rutherford Calhoun, a witty, educated, former slave living as a petty thief in New Orleans, hops aboard a ship to evade the prim Boston teacher who wants to marry him. But the Republic turns out to be a slave clipper bound for Africa. Calhoun hates himself for acting as henchman to the ship's captain, a dwarfish tyrant. Before the crew can mutiny, African captives stage a revolt. RC 32593, BR 9054.

Mating by Norman Rush.
The unnamed female narrator is a middle aged American anthropology student who abandons her research in Africa to search for the perfect mate. She finds him in Nelson Denoon, creator of a desert utopia for destitute African women. Her mating ritual is successful until Denoon abruptly changes. Explicit descriptions of sex. RC 33619.

All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy.
Texas, 1949. John Grady Cole is on the threshold of adulthood when his world turns upside down. His grandfather has died, and his mother has no desire to keep the 18,000 acre ranch. He sets out for Mexico with a friend and finds work on another ranch. But John falls for the owner's daughter and finds himself in jail. The Border Trilogy, Book 1. Series Code BOR. Strong language and violence. RC 34043.

The Shipping News by Annie E. Proulx.
The story centers on Quoyle, a lowly newspaper reporter. When his wife, Petal Bear, runs off with another man and gets killed, Quoyle's aunt convinces the distraught man to move with his two daughters to an abandoned family home in Newfoundland. Quoyle goes to work for a sleazy paper covering the shipping news and learns to fit right in. Strong language. RC 37883, BR 9612.

A Frolic of His Own by William Gaddis.
Satire on Americans' penchant for taking one another to court. Oscar Crease, a college professor and author of a play about his grandfather's role in the Civil War, sues a Hollywood producer who pirates the play and makes it into a blockbuster movie. More lawsuits follow. Throughout the novel, Oscar, his family, his friends, and his lawyers talk at each other until an old judge finally lays down the law. Some strong language. RC 41223.

Sabbath's Theater by Philip Roth.
Mickey Sabbath is a former puppeteer known for his rather lewd performances, which were his way of masking the suffering he endured after the disappearance of his first wife and the deaths of his mother and older brother. Now aged 64, Mickey becomes unstable after the death of his lover and contemplates suicide. Strong language and explicit descriptions of sex. RC 42376.

Ship Fever and Other Stories by Andrea Barrett.
Collection of eight short stories, many taking place in the historical past and within the context of scientific inquiry and discovery. The title piece, a novella set during Ireland 's Great Famine, describes the adventures of a young Canadian doctor who tends to Irish immigrants suffering from typhus while he tries to impress the woman he loves. RC 42607.

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier.
A wounded Confederate soldier leaves the war and undertakes an arduous trek to his mountain home and the woman he aims to marry. Meanwhile, his intended struggles to work her deceased father's barren farm. Depicts hardship, peril, and courage in the wartime South. Strong language and violence. RC 44762.

Charming Billy by Alice McDermott.
Billy Lynch's family and friends join his widow in a Bronx pub for his wake. At one end of the long table, the discussion turns to an old story about Billy's love for an Irish woman. Her death long ago may have driven Billy to his own death by alcohol. RC 46014.

Waiting by Ha Jin.
In 1960s China, army doctor Lin Kong falls in love with Manna Wu. However, Kong is bound by an arranged marriage to Shuyu, a traditional village woman who refuses to divorce him. If Kong can bear eighteen years of separation, the court will dissolve the marriage. RC 49107.

In America by Susan Sontag.
In the opening chapter numbered "Zero," the unnamed protagonist, speaking for the author, chooses the characters for the novel. The remainder of the book revolves around the decision of Polish actress Maryna Zalezowska to leave the stage in 1876 and move to California with her husband and entourage. RC 49825.

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen.
Because her husband has Parkinson's disease, midwestern housewife Enid Lambert seeks to gather her grown children for one last Christmas together. But the unhappily married banker Gary, recently fired professor Chip, and bisexual chef Denise have other ideas. Strong language and some descriptions of sex. RC 53073, BR 13651.

Three Junes by Julia Glass.
The McLeod men grapple with family ties and love relationships in the summers of 1989, 1995, and 1999. Paul, a widower traveling in Greece, reappraises the past in his bereavement; a son in Manhattan finds an outlet for repressed feelings; and his brothers learn accommodation. Some strong language. RC 55525.

The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard.
1947. British major Aldred Leith arrives in Japan to report on Hiroshima conditions. Postwar loneliness haunts him and his friend Peter Exley, who saved his life in battle. Leith falls in love with Helen Driscoll, an Australian teenager, who is also struggling to recover from personal trauma. RC 57098, BR 15103.

The News from Paraguay by Lily Tuck.
Paris, 1854. Francisco Lopez, Paraguay's future dictator, falls in love with Irish courtesan Ella Lynch. Following him to South America, Ella embraces her lover's doomed imperialistic dreams, but remains a stranger in a foreign land. Some explicit descriptions of sex, some violence, and some strong language. RC 59770.