Short Nonfiction Collection, Vol. 064: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

Short Nonfiction Collection, Vol. 064, credited to Various, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of Short Nonfiction Collection, Vol. 064 by Various. Read by LibriVox Volunteers Twenty short nonfiction works chosen by the readers. Eucken's "The Failure of Speculative Philosophy," is one of several essays devoted to timeless questions. Others are by James Howell on man, nature and the universe, Samuel Johnson on procrastination and the flight of time, Schleiemacher on the social element in religion, Ambrose Bierce on immortality, and Thomas Paine and Jonathan Swift with their famous essays, "The Age of Reason" (1794-1795) and "A Modest Proposal" (1729). Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Pearl Harbor "Day of Infamy" speech is one of various commentaries on war, politics and the polity. Others are Bierce's moving description of a solitary Civil War hero, Woodrow Wilson speaking to capitalism's spiritual crisis, Rev. Jee Gam presenting a Chinese Christian's thoughts on the Boxer Rebellion, and a partisan, Eugene Weeks, eulogizing Calvin Coolidge. Intuitive self-direction is the theme of Lafcadio Hearn's essay "A Mystery of Crowds." Other selections that touch on personal development are Robert Louis Stevenson on literary style, Gelett Burgess on creativity and the art of play, Brann on the relative worth of the sexes, and Mary Wood-Allen on what a woman should know in picking a husband. For the musically inclined, Lawton Mackall has an amusing look at pianos, while sports enthusiasts will enjoy Benjamin Richardson's treatise on what to avoid in cycling. Artists should be interested in the biography of designer William Kilburn, who, in the late 1700s, was the first artist to seek copyright for his original textile designs. Summary by Sue Anderson William Tudor Jones translated "The Failure of Speculative Philosophy." George Ripley translated "On the Social Element in Religion."

Recording facts

• Recording title: Short Nonfiction Collection, Vol. 064
• Author credits: Various
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 20
• Listed recording duration: 5:21:39

Catalogue topics

• play
• civil war
• piano
• Copyright
• realism
• capitalism
• cycling
• immortality

Track guide

1. 01 - The Age of Reason: Conclusion — 33:23
2. 02 - The Art of Playing — 9:55
3. 03 - The Boxer Rebellion From the Standpoint of a Christian Chinese (1900) — 18:59
4. 04 - Day of Infamy Speech: Given before the US Congress December 8 1941 — 4:09
5. 05 - An Essay in the Art of Writing — 19:22
6. 06 - The Failure of Speculative Philosophy — 34:05
7. 07 - Have Faith in Coolidge! — 20:16
8. 08 - Immortality — 10:33
9. 09 - Meditation (from The Familiar Letters of James Howell) — 7:24
10. 10 - A Modest Proposal — 21:55
11. 11 - Monitions on the Flight of Time — 6:56
12. 12 - A Mystery of Crowds — 13:17
13. 13 - Notes On Pianos — 4:56
14. 14 - On The Social Element in Religion (1799) — 33:15
15. 15 - The Road Away from Revolution — 7:00
16. 16 - A Son Of The Gods — 18:58
17. 17 - What a Woman Ought to Know in Choosing a Husband — 11:33
18. 18 - What to Avoid in Cycling — 27:20
19. 19 - William Kilburn (1745-1818) and Copyright for Artists' Original Designs — 9:15
20. 20 - The Woman Thou Gavest Me — 9:08

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This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.