Full AspenCat Catalog

The Magician (1909) is a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. Controversial for its portrayal of infidelity and occult ritual, The Magician was instrumental in establishing Maugham's reputation as a leading author of the late Victorian era. Inspired by stories of Aleister Crowley, an influential occultist and magician, Maugham crafted a masterpiece of fantasy fiction that would inspire Crowley himself to write a hit piece for Vanity Fair erroneously accusing...

The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky's crowning achievement, is a tale of patricide & family rivalry that embodies the moral & spiritual dissolution of an entire society (Russia in the 1870s). It created a national furor comparable only to the excitement stirred by the publication, in 1866, of Crime & Punishment. To Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov captured the quintessence of Russian character in all its exaltation, compassion, & profligacy. Significantly,...

THE PRICE OF SALT is the famous lesbian love story by Patricia Highsmith, written under the pseudonym Claire Morgan. The author became notorious due to the story's latent lesbian content and happy ending, the latter having been unprecedented in homosexual fiction. Highsmith recalled that the novel was inspired by a mysterious woman she happened across in a shop and briefly stalked. Because of the happy ending (or at least an ending with the possibility...

The Man Who Laughs is a novel by Victor Hugo, originally published in April 1869 under the French title L'Homme qui rit. It takes place in England in the 1680s and 1700s, during the reigns of James II and Queen Anne, respectively, and depicts England's royalty and aristocracy of the time as cruel and power-hungry. Hugo intended parallels between the England depicted and the France of Louis-Philippe and the Régence. The novel concerns the life of...

"A fantastic and fun basketball series by Australian Olympian and NBA star Patty Mills that will entertain young readers, inspire kids to achieve their goals through sport, and showcase Patty's pride in his Indigenous heritage."--Publisher's website "Sport-mad Patty Mills is a star on the footy field, an ace at athletics, a ripper at rugby. So when he tries out for basketball, it should be a breeze..."--Back cover

"After learning the truth about her uncle Geryon, 13-year-old Alice--with the encouragement of the magical giant feline, Ending--ventures into a dangerous land searching for a mysterious book that will allow her to exact her revenge on Geryon, and unwittingly sets off a far larger and more dangerous battle than she ever imagined"--